Avatar 2: Colonies
by chrispy9229
Summary: Six years after they left, Humanity returns to Pandora after creating FTL, planning on setting up a new colonial program. This will lead to conflict with Jake's tribe. However, a coming darkness threatens to consume both peoples. Read on for more details.
1. Chapter 1: Touch Down

The Valkyrie shuttlecraft dropped through the clouds at a rather alarming rate from Alex's point of view. It wasn't that he felt that he was going to die. It was that his body was making the transition from being in space, to being in a gravity environment again. He clenched his stomach as they descended down into Pandora. He was reasonably sure that he could hold his lunch in himself for the journey. What he was really worried about, was his fellow passengers.

He surveyed the seats and rows of engineers, surveyors, farmers, miners, lumberjacks and RDA soldiers inside the plane. Most of them had never even been to space before, so when they had been in the ISV _Magellan_ there had been a lot of sick people trying to adapt to it. Now that they had actually reached Pandora, they had to endure the fine experience of planetary re-entry. A couple of people started to moan with sickness as the shuttle shook in the wind resistance. Nobody said a word. Everyone tried to contain themselves.

Alex clenched his teeth. The gunmetal grey interior of the spacecraft did not exactly help him think happy thoughts.

_C'mon, just a little bit longer. We can make it, we can make it, we ca..._

The Canadian engineer sitting right next to him on the left blew chunks all over the floor and onto his boots. He then keeled over in his seat moaning. The people sitting near him started to groan, clutch their stomachs and reach for their sick bags.

_Oh god no, here we go again..._

Just before he convinced himself that this seriously not-fun rollercoaster of a ride was never going to end, a rather florid voice which was that of a military pilot trying to sound as if he was flying a passenger jet rather than a military grade cargo shuttle came on the speakers.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we are preparing to land at what used to be the Hell's Gate Military Facility. The runway has just been cleared of debris and we'll be landing shortly. All passengers, fasten your seatbelts, keep your masks on hand and try not to throw up anymore than you already have. Thank you."

"Oh thank god almighty." breathed Alex. There were sighs of relief going all around the compartment.

They then had to endure a few more minutes of agonizing torture before the shuttle touched down on the runway. The impact was harsh enough that even the puke in the floor moved a bit. The rumbling of the shuttle on the runway was punctuated by thumps as the plane hit the odd pock mark. Then even that started to fade away as the plane rolled to a stop. For a brief moment, all was silent, save the cooling down of the engines. Then they had to wait for the recon crews to tow the shuttle away.

People around the bay started to recover from their ordeal. First came the communal sigh of relief. Then there was the talking.

"I fucking hate air travel." Sighed Mac, the Scottish militia marksmen sitting to his right.  
"You mean space travel."  
"Whatever man. Space travel. Air travel. They're both horrifying."  
Alex smiled. "Well look on the brightside." He said in an endearingly, purposefully phoney happy voice. "This is the start of our brand new adventure!"  
"If that's the case then I'd rather stay home." Muttered Noh. Alex's friend and 'sidekick'. "If I still had one that is..."

Alex was going to say something when a RDA officer started to give his 'Welcome to sunny Pandora' speech.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Pandora." The man in his forties opened up. "You have just touched down on the nearest habitable rock in the universe. This moon will now become your new home. As the new colonists living here, you will be helping to get this place back into condition, start up farms and begin mining the Unobtainium again." He spoke with the accent of a British veteran; crisp, clear and slightly sinister in nature. He surveyed the people in front of him as if he was looking at schoolchildren. "Now, I know that many of you have stories about the uh, _incident_ a few years back with the natives here." He paused for a moment. "The Na'vi as they are known, are a race of sentient blue-skinned humanoid aliens, who live in a tribal society. They have little technology available. Why..." he smirked "they haven't even invented the wheel yet."

There were a few 'hehs' and ha's by the colonists. Mainly in order to reassure themselves.

"I can assure you that these blue-skinned savages will pose no problem to this colony. We have the technology to keep them, and any other evil monsters from coming in and wrecking our day. We will have the situation under complete control at all times. They will not compete against Human might and technology. And your new life here will be safe under the watch of the militia that we are training."

Noh's hand went up.

"Yes there?"

Noh cleared his throat "And yet somehow, the blue skinned aliens from the stone age managed to completely annihilate an entire RDA battlegroup, kill the commanding officer, prevent a pre-emptive strike onto their place of worship and kick you guys off with your tales between your legs?"

There was a small section of priceless silence, although this was broken by the odd snigger and chuckle. The RDA officer was silent in his own thoughts for a bit, and then locked eyes with Noh.

"What's your name soldier? You look like part of the militia."  
"Noh sir." Noh smiled back in a deliberately shit-eating fashion.

"See me afterwards. As I was saying uh, moving on, you will have all participated in the recent gene modding back on Earth. This will allow you to do what your predecessors were unable to do: breathe the Pandoran air." He signalled a crew member. "There has been some debate on whether or not this would actually work. Fortunately, we are about to find out on whether or not it does work." He began to strap on his own exo-pack, as did the other RDA soldiers. Then the Valkyrie doors opened up.

Everyone braced themselves for what was going to come next. The light poured in the shuttlecraft, as did the famously inhospitable air of Pandora. Pandora's atmosphere is apparently a mix of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, xenon, ammonia, methane and hydrogen sulphide. This is a normally unbreathable mix to humans, so normally they had to wear exo packs; special gasmasks with air recycling technology that would recycle the wearer's air. Now all of the new colonists underwent special genetic modification. After a few injections, the colonists could now breathe the air. For some strange reason the RDA men did not have any modification at all, and they all wore exo masks at all times.

Nothing happened. Alex took a breath of air. It felt normal enough. Then he felt alive. This air was a hell of a lot cleaner than the smog back home.

"All right then," started the officer. "Since none of you are dropping to the floor choking an alien air, we'll assume that the modding worked." A hand went up. "Yes there?"  
"There aren't any side effects of the modding right?" asked a Hispanic doctor uncertainly.  
"Trust me ma'am, the modding has already been tested in the past. We have seen no side effects whatsoever. Now..." He stretched himself and started to walk out of the shuttle. "Get to your stations."

Everyone got up and walked out of the Valkyrie. Alex stepped outside into the sunlight. He stared at his surroundings. Hells Gate had been abandoned for five years. In all of this time, the jungle had started to take the place again. The concrete was cracked, pockmarked and in many places, had plants growing through it. The buildings looked dilapidated, covered in vines and moss. The runway had been largely repaired, and another Valkyrie was coming to land, but the place looked as if it required extensive repairs, and the mechs hadn't landed yet. He glanced at his exo suit for a second, testing that it was actually working.

"Holy shit..." breathed Noh.  
"Pretty amazing?" queried Mac.  
"Yeah... I've never seen so much... so much... GREEN before."  
"You've never been to a forest before?"  
"What forests? Back home it's all cities."

A Major of the militia came up. Their boss.

"Right, first job ladies, is to help us clear away the rubble over here." The local militia captain was a big man from Washington; a guy called Halverson, who was down on his luck enough to volunteer for the colony program. He wasn't even a soldier before hand, just a beat cop with a mid-life crisis. He pointed to the rubble of concrete blocks and timber.

"You got to be kidding us; we can't clear that without heavy machinery. We'll need to bring in mechs for it." Alex whined.  
"Quit your whining Garnett. Gravity on Pandora is less than on earth. Besides, you're all wearing exo suits, so this should make any heavy work, not heavy." He paused. "Just work that is."

Mac gripped a cinder block and lifted it up to his chest in one quick, fluid motion, with one hand. "Wow, these really do work." He threw the block to a nearby truck. It sailed through the air and smashed into the back of the cabin with large crunch, making a huge dent in it.

"Jesus Christ, watch it!" shouted the driver.

All of the militia soldiers, and most of the colonists, were equipped with the APE-15 Amplified Powered Exoskeleton. This was what many called Power Armour; however, it wasn't so much a suit of armour, but rather a frame of metal. The suit had the ability to amplify the strength and speed of the user. This allowed the user to lift heavy objects, smash things with their hands and run very fast on flat land. The suit also supported itself, which meant that weight was not an issue. It was powered by small Unobtainium reactor.

As the militiamen started to clear away rubble, a jeep pulled up to the side. Out of it came the same RDA officer that was on the Valkyrie. He walked up to Noh, looking him as a dog would a meal.

"Son, do you know who I am?"  
Noh kept his smile up. 'You are Lieutenant Commander Howard Carson boss.'  
"Very good. You actually have the initiative to look at the crappy personnel pamphlets." He went right up to Noh's face. "You know those pamphlets tell you a lot about everyone. What they don't tell you is where I've been... like Nigeria. Or the things I've done, and what I can do, out in a place with no laws. I can guarantee that I can make your life down here a living hell." He whispered. "There are a lot of things that I can do to you down here."

Noh bit his tongue to stop himself from cracking up. "Just stating the facts sir."

"You'll do more than that soon." He started to walk back to his jeep. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot..."  
"Welcome To Pandora."

As he drove off the men distinctly heard Noh mutter "Asshole..."

* * *

Jake climbed up the Hometree. He paced himself to keep momentum to climb the branches to his home. He just got back from the hunt, and he always knew never to keep her waiting. Another tribesman respectfully got off the branches he was climbing and allowed Jake to keep climbing up. Jake never wanted to be late for her. He had nightmares about it. The sun was setting in the distance, throwing shadows all over the place. He always knew that he should never leave her alone for long.

A few more steps and he reached his destination. His grail was in front of him. And then he froze. Somewhere, he heard singing.

The small child in front of him on the other hand, beamed with joy. She was expecting Jake to say something. To the left, was a Na'vi man who wore oversized human clothes. He too was bracing himself for something.

Jake cursed himself for an idiot inside his head again. He could lead a Na'vi tribe to victory, defeat _Palulukans_ on hunting trips and fly through the mountains on his own _Ikran_.

But no matter what he did, his own daughter always stumped him.

"Who's daddy's little girl?" he tried with a tinge of cheerfulness and uncertainty.  
The child paused for a moment. "Um... me?"  
"Uh, yeah... okay, just forget it... How was your day with Uncle Norm?"  
"Great daddy! He showed me the _Pa'li_ in the fields!"

They talked about the Pa'li, also known as the direhorse; the six legged horses that lived on Pandora. Jake told her about its grazing habits, its markings and how people ride them. She listened to all of Jake's words with rapt attention; Jake was a pretty damn good public speaker. Jake smiled at all the questions she fired at him, the most astounding thing about her was how she was only six, yet she spoke and acted like a ten year old. Norm said that she was maturing at a much faster rate than normal for some reason.

"Daddy, when is mum coming back?"  
"Soon, Miri, soon. She's coming back with the _Tsahik_ of the Kalisthaya people. Then you can talk to her for as long as you want."

He was just about to get up, when Miri asked the question that he was dreading for a long time.

"Dad... Why do we have five fingers?"

Jake looked at his own hand. The Na'vi had three fingers and a thumb, but the old avatar bodies that Jake and Norm had used four fingers and a thumb, to account for human hands. The problem was, is that his daughter Miri was also born with five fingers.

"Well..."

_Damn it, I wish Neytiri was here._

"It's because... people tend to look like both their mums their dads."  
"Then why do you have five fingers?"

Jake paused uncertainly.

"Maybe I'll tell you when you're older. Maybe after you've visited the Tree of Voices."  
Miri gave a disappointed sigh. "Okay then daddy."  
"Listen, why don't you head down and play with your friends? Me and Uncle Norm have to talk for a while."

Miri walked down the steps to the tree's floor. She was a chieftains daughter and of that of a human one at that, but at least she was having a normal life.

Jake sighed. "She grows up from so little, to smart so quickly Norm."  
"That's how they are I guess." Norm agreed. "Your trip went okay?"  
"Yep. We caught ourselves some steer for tonight. It's going to be a fine dinner." He looked back to where Miri went, and then glanced at his own hands. "Didn't expect her to catch on to the hands yet."

Norm looked at Jake again. "You're gonna have to tell her about it sometime Jake."

"Not now. Humanity is still the bogeyman around here. If I told her now, she might not like it. Her friends might think of her differently too."  
"True, but what if she learns of it otherwise? When she's older she might resent you for not telling."  
"I'll do it when Neytiri's around. How's Max by the way?"  
"Doing fine for now. The Kalisthaya tribe is still pretty wary of him, him being a dream-walker and all, but seemed willing enough for the _Tsahik_ to come over."  
"At least that avatar worked for him. You joining him in a while?"  
"Yeah I'll be heading off at-"

"Chieftain! Chieftain!" A voice shouted. Heavy footsteps thumped as someone was racing up the tree. An exhausted hunter came onto the platform, catching his breath. "I have something bad to tell you..."

"Catch your breath Mu'kala... what's wrong?"

The scarred hunter looked at him in the eye.

"They're back."


	2. Chapter 2: Scout

Scout

"One of the first orders of business is getting the mining operation back up and running." Said Director Parker Selfridge to the militiamen, colonists and RDA soldiers gathered before him. We spoke in what was basically his standard issue executive public speaking voice: clear methodical and unbiased, with a tinge of condescending. "We need to do this in order to help cover costs and create a sustainable source of income for the colony. In the past few days, we have successfully started up farms, lumberjack operations and a small engineering outpost on the base, but we need to start up the mining operations as we know many of you miners are still having to sit on your asses, waiting for mining sites to be cleared and scouted." He smiled. "This is just about to be addressed."

"You mean that you haven't been working on it for the past two weeks?" shouted out a tired looking miner, who had to drown his boredom in a flood of alcohol.

Parker sighed in a frustrated fashion but quickly regained his composure again. "I can assure you that we have all been quite busy for these past weeks. Between the construction and repair work there has been a lot of work to do. But now we are about to move on with the next phase."

He brought up the 3D projector online. On it swirled a representation of the colony and the surrounding area. In about two weeks, the repairs had been mostly complete to the base. The perimeter was up again, defences had been brought online again, new buildings were constructed, and militia were doing their field exercises in the training yards set up under the watchful eye of RDA supervisors. Generally, everything was going to plan.

"We believe that the old mines and refinery left over from the last administration still have a reasonable amount of Unobtainium in them. However, the place is still not secure. That's where our friendly militia come in." He signalled to some of the militiamen seated near the front. "These fine gentlemen here are going to head to the mines and secure them for us. It will be their first real test outside the base perimeter."

* * *

The chopper ride to the DZ was not exactly exciting, but it gave most of the militia who were on the op a chance to see the sights and sounds of Pandoran jungle from the air. There were five Samson helicopters delivering the militiamen about ten klicks to RDA ESM-1; the old Unobtainium mine that the RDA used to run. Everyone on board the choppers was gaping at the scenery. Most of them were city people in nature, with few of them having seen what little countryside there was left on Earth. Alex was felt like he was in one of the old fantasy novels his uncle used to read to him. Mac just watched it all with the same attention as if he was watching an Oscar winning film. Same with Noh, who would then just go and randomly comment on something that he sees. Like "Why does everything here have six legs?"

They past natural wonders. Things that seemed to suppose to only come from fantasy games and novels. There were great trees, towering over the land, so that when the Samson's flew close to the waters of the rivers, the crew got the full impression. They flew over waterfalls, great cascades of water that seemed to go on forever into mist. They flew under great stone arches that seemed to rise up out of the ground, like the ribs of a Titan. And in the distance, they saw solitary trees that towered of the rest of the landscape like skyscrapers and off in the horizon, they could just make out the great flying mountains of Pandora.

Suddenly Alex felt a huge feeling of loss. When he was little, he used to watch old history videos on planet Earth. Now, after seeing this world that his own might have been, he felt one thing that he whispered to himself.

"Boy we really fucked up our own world huh?"

Everyone was silent. Alex then realised that he accidently voiced it on the radio.

Captain Halverson gave him a look. It was hard at first, but then seemed to soften into sadness. A voice on the radio sighed "Yeah... we did." The rest of the trip was done in silence.

The Site was like a great big pimple scar on the surface of Pandora. The mines were three pits dug into the ground that even six years of nature couldn't take back. They seemed like almost abhorrent bits of khaki land on a sea of green. The place was barren and lifeless.

"Okay folks, we are about to touch down in a few seconds, get ready." The pilot radioed.

The Samson's then landed on the ground. The Militia got out of the choppers and began securing the area. The sun was beating down that afternoon, so the place reminded Alex of a desert. They checked the abandoned mining vehicles, the roads and the perimeter. Five minutes later the radios squawked again.

"Alpha clear."  
"Bravo clear."  
"Delta... cleared."  
"Where's Charlie?"  
A militiaman came running towards Halverson. "Boss, my team's radios can't work for shit right now."

The Captain rolled his eyes."Military equipment... always works... Alright then, The engineers and surveyors are touching down in about 10 minutes." He called out on the radio. "Keep watch until then."

He turned around to Alex and Noh. "I want you two up on that excavator."

"Why?"

"For the view."

The two started climbing up the excavator ladder and onto the canopy. The great beast of a machine hadn't seen any action for years. It was rusted, pitted. The paint was coming off of it in big great flakes, exposing the utter corrosion underneath. The control booth was covered on mould, which might have had something to do with the smell. As they climbed, Noh grunted a question.

"You know what really pisses me off?"  
"What?"  
"That they call this stuff 'Unobtainium.' I mean what kind of a stupid name is that?" he said genuinely indignant. "Can't they like, I don't know... call it 'Magnetite', or 'magneto' or whatever?"  
Alex called back "It's something you can barely find on Earth, that's why it's uh, heh... 'Unobtainable'."  
"Oh ha, ha, ha, very funny..."

"Look, if it's such a problem for you..." he said hoisting himself up on the roof. "How about... You just call it...'Really stupid flying metal'?"  
"Yeah... exactly!" he heaved himself onto the canopy. "I mean, considering that we rely on this stuff so much back home, you'd think that we'd think up some better name, but nooo..."

That was a bad sign to Alex. If Noh said 'but nooo', it meant that he was about to go off into a rant.

"Yeah okay, I get it."  
"I mean even something like..."  
"I get it! Jesus Noh, do you have to rant on about everything you see?"  
Noh shot him a look. "Well excuse me Mr. No Complaints! I'm only trying to..."  
"Look, I can appreciate the input, but you've always had problems with keeping your damn mouth shut when nobody wants to..."

Before he could say anymore, Mac's voice cut on the radio. "Guys, could you shut up over there? I thought I saw something to the north."

Noh looked out to the horizon. "Hey wait, I see it too. What are we looking at?"

There was something moving just above the treeline. It was up in the sky, a little blob flying around. It seemed way too big to be just some bird.

"Hang on a moment... lemme just get up on the excavator spades, I think I might get a better view from up there." Alex said, already climbing the raised boom.  
"Fine, sure, whatever." Noh said distracted.

Voices on the radio started asking each other questions. "Do you think it's the surveyors?" and "I don't think that's a chopper."

Noh looked to the left where something caught his eye. He squinted to see what appeared to be Charlie squad. They were shouting and pointing like maniacs in vivid fear of something.

"What the hell..."

_What are they on about?_

Then he realised something very strange happening around him.

_Is it just me, or has it suddenly got dark around here?_

He never saw it coming.

* * *

Neytiri could see them from up where she was. From her _Ikran,_ she could see the sky-people in groups around the scar in the earth that was the mine. The place seemed abhorrent to her. The yellow earth was like a gaping wound. Few plants ever grew there, for the chemicals and poisons from the left over mining would not go away.

_And now they finally show themselves again._ She thought furiously inside her head. The sky-people were trying to do more damage were they? She wasn't going to put up with that. Despite that, Jake felt that the humans would have to make the first move. The Hell's Gate base defences were up and running again and they were set to fire upon any non-human that strayed too close. So after hearing that they were back he wanted everyone to wait until some of them had left the compound. He wanted the terms to be on their side.

They had been watching the humans come to the mine from afar, when one of the hunters had come up with an idea for 'procuring' one of them. They then had at the young Na'vi's suggestion, sent a flyer on his Banshee to distract them. With all of the sky-people trying to find out what the strange shape at the mine's edge, Neytiri could pick out someone very vulnerable.

The poor bastard never saw her coming.

* * *

Alex was still trying to figure out what the thing on the horizon was when he felt something big fly past him. Then he heard the screaming.

"What's going on..." Halverson had begun and then he saw the mountain banshee, with a screaming Noh gripped in its mouth.

"HELP! HELP MEEE! SOMEBODY HELP!"

"Jesus Christ, it's got Noh!" shouted a militiaman on the radio. He looked up. "Shit, They're everywhere!" He was right. In the sky about six banshees circled the mine. They were strangely beautiful in appearance. Their colours were iridescent, with blues, yellows, greens and reds. They were cawing down at them, being interrupted by the continuous screaming of Noh, who was gripped tightly by one of them in an upside down fashion.

Some of the militia began to open fire on the banshees. They tried to keep to their training, short controlled bursts and single shots and all that, but were interrupted by Halverson's angry shouts of "Cease Fire! Cease fire! You could hit Noh by mistake! Stop shooting!" And all the while Noh was still screaming "SOMEBODY HELP ME, YOU ASSHOLES!"

* * *

One of the banshees flew alarmingly close to the excavator boom, where Alex was still perched. He felt the wind turbulence nearly blow him right off, but he managed to see an angry face, blue in nature, hiss at him as it flew by. "Shit... boss... These banshees are being piloted by Na'vi..." he whispered into his radio. Nothing came out of it. The excavator boom was starting to groan now. Men were trying to find cover near rocks, under giant hell trucks, even trying to dive into ditches. The boom then shuddered for a second.

_Fucking Murphy's Law..._

He started to try and climb down the boom. He didn't feel safe up there anymore. As he made his way down, he felt something weird.

_It's getting darker..._

He turned his head to look behind him.

"OH FUCK-"

* * *

"Hey Neytiri! How do I shut this _skxawng_ up?" shouted Mu'kala from his banshee. "I tried singing loudly, but even that can't drown out his terrified screaming."

"Put up with it. I'm going to get my own one. Then we go home."

She was started to enjoy the chaos unfolding before her. The sky-people were cowering into whatever cover they could find like beetles in the light. She was a little worried at the beginning, when they were shooting at her and the other hunters, but even then they must have realised that they had no chance of hitting them.

She spied a new target: a soldier trying to climb down the giant digging machine near where his comrade had already been taken. He was hanging on to dear life and was unable to even look down. The perfect target.

As she piloted her _Ikran_ to him, a surge of adrenaline made things slow down. She could see that the soldier did not wear the garb and colours of the RDA. This mattered little to her, as since he was armed, and armed people never had any good intentions. Then, as the man started to turn around, she saw his face, dirty as it was. And she noticed that he did not wear the mask that all sky people wore down here. She also saw the absolute terror of the man just before her _Ikran_ grabbed him.

The soldier screamed just like the first one. He flailed and screamed for a minute before realizing that it was futile. The other one on the other end was still going at it like no tomorrow. She signalled to the other riders to get back into formation.

"Alright, we got them. Let's go ho-"

One of the riders screamed out clutching his shoulder. Blood started to run down his arm and seeped through his fingers. "I'm hit!"

"How badly?" Shouted another rider.

"I'll... I'll live..."

"Then let's get out of here GO!"

* * *

"Hey boss, I think I got one." Mac lowered his rifle to get a better view.

"Nah, I think you only winged him." Another man said through his binoculars.

* * *

Alex was riding on a brand new rollercoaster. He was rumbling on the tracks screaming in glee as the cart rode around the park of Happy Fun Land. He tried to keep this memory alive as much as possible. He was trying to think happy thoughts.

Then he woke up and realised that he was still in the air. Everything was extremely disorientating to him. The fact that the banshee was holding him upside down did not help either. He was then aware of someone else screaming.

"HELP! FOR FUCK'S SAKE, HELP!"

"NOH! NOH! STOP SCREAMING! SHUT UP!"  
Noh finally started to run out of breath. "They... they get you too?"  
"Yeah... I don't think we can do anything now..."  
"Why... why not?" breathed Noh raggedly.  
"You notice... that... the sky is... up?"  
Noh realised that he was upside down and just how high he was above the forest canopy. "Yeah... I... guess."  
"Let's not... Do anything... until... we're on the ground again..."  
"Yeah right! These guys are going to kill us!"  
"What makes you say... that?"  
"Don't you get it? They took us... TO EAT!" cried Noh in a dramatic fashion.

Alex was lost for words for a brief moment. "What?"

"Don't you remember what they say about the Na'vi? They EAT Their PRISONERS... That's US!"  
"You dumbass! Do you really believe that? They don't eat people... That's just RDA bullshit to scare the colonists..."  
"YEAH?... well... you can say that when they roast you on a pot..."  
"You mean boil in a pot..."  
"SEMANTICS!" screamed Noh.  
"SHUT UP DOWN THERE!" roared a voice from above.

Both humans were silent for a minute. Then Alex was brave enough to whisper "Did that guy just speak English?"

If Noh was still conscious, he wasn't listening.

* * *

The trip took about one hour in real life, but to Alex, it felt like an entire week. He was struggling to stay conscious, the sun was burning his cheeks and he was practically gasping for air. He was aware that the sun was setting in the horizon, and the great giant Polyphemus was starting to change colour. Other than that, nothing happened for a long time.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the Banshees landed. The great beasts let Roger and Noh go where they dropped onto grass. Alex tried to get collect his thoughts and get his bearings again. He was aware of Noh trying to get up, moaning on how his shoulders were hurting. He then looked at the scenery around himself. He was in some sort of forest clearing. The sun had gone down, so it must have been night, but strangely enough, it was still light enough to see all around him. He could see past the trees and catch glimpses of small creatures. Unless he had just developed night vision eyeballs, it didn't make sense.

Then he realised it. Nearly everything in the forest, the trees, the plants and the animals, were glowing. The lichen on the trees, lit up the place in its own mood lighting allowing him to see everything. He'd heard of such things before, on the instruction courses and videos he took before going to Pandora, but this was just incredible. He was also aware that there seemed to be something... big. Something huge, towering over the forest. He felt as if he was in some sort of dream.

He began to be aware of voices again. They were speaking in something he couldn't understand; the blood was still draining from his head. He felt the great banshee beasts over him. He heard footsteps. Then a glowing hand grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him on his feet. He came face to face with one of his captors.

He was big. He was vaguely blue, but then everything in that forest was somewhat blue. He too was glowing, a pattern dotting his face. His features were somewhat flat, feline in nature, and it reminded Alex of his old cat; Tom. The face was painted, lines etched upon it in orange. It had one vicious scar, a slash on its forehead. But by far the most vivid thing about his face, were the eyes. Big green eyes they were. And they stared at him with a mix of recognition and anger.

It asked him something in Na'vi. Alex started to get scared. "I... I don't know what you're saying..."

The face snapped at him again. This time in halting, accented English.  
"Why are you here?"

Alex didn't know where to begin. "Um... we came here to... uh..."  
"Answer me _shxawng_!" he snapped, drawing a bone knife. "Or I'll cut your finger off!"

A woman's voice shouted back from the banshees. Alex looked passed the Na'vi man and saw a group of Na'vi tending to the wound of a hunter. From what he could tell, it looked like a gunshot to the arm. The woman was young-ish, but she seemed to carry authority in her movements, and in her voice. She moved up to Roger and the Na'vi and looked straight into the Na'vi's eyes. He backed down coolly. She then turned her gaze to Alex. He blanched. Her eyes seemed to pierce through, and see through any defence he had.

"Hands." She ordered evenly.

Alex slowly raised his hands. She grabbed the two of them, and before he knew it, they were bound together in front of him tightly. The woman said something to the scarred hunter, and then went back to the wounded hunter.

The scarred Na'vi watched him. Meanwhile, Noh had finally got his shit together, but was bound before he could do anything. He looked at Alex. Then he said a very strange thing.

"On three." His voice barely a whisper.

"What?"

"One."

The Na'vi watching Noh looked at him with curiosity. He didn't seem to know English.

Noh winked at Alex nodding his head towards the scarred Na'vi, and towards his own watcher.

"Two."

Alex braced himself. He knew that Noh was about to do something stupid.

"Three!"

With the speed of someone who didn't quite know what he was doing, Noh punched out at his guard with both his bound fists. At the same time, Alex kicked his watcher in the back of his legs.

In normal circumstances, any human who would have tried to do this would have been laughed at. Being so big, taking on a Na'vi in close quarter combat is inadvisable. However, both Alex and Noh, as well as most of the colonists, were wearing exo-suits. As mentioned before, these powered exoskeletons amplified the strength and speed of the user. So when these two humans made their attacks, they made their marks.

Noh's hit was meant to be a sucker punch. Unfortunately, he wasn't tall enough to reach his guards face. It only bruised the Na'vi's chest, causing the two of them to stagger back. He wasn't fast enough to run away before another Na'vi grabbed him. Alex's hit was not so extravagant, but it served to trip the scarred hunter. Before anyone could see him, he sprinted off.

"RUN ALEX!"

* * *

Ar'kadi was assembling a trap that he was showing to a young huntress in training. It was something that the Na'vi hadn't quite figured out yet, so Norm was trying to drill it into her head.

"What do you call this trap again?" asked Shee'kana absentmindedly.

"Noose Trap! Damn it listen to me!" he snapped, frustrated. "You put this bit of rope..."

Ar'kadi was known by many as the Engineer. He was quite different from many other Na'vi in that his affinity was in machines. He wasn't a very good hunter and he didn't get along with his Ikran, but he understood human machinery extremely well. When he was younger, he used to watch the human planes and machinery go by from the forest. Of course when the Hometree was destroyed, he was equally enraged as anybody else. But when the humans went away he still played and poked around the wreckage from the battle. There was a lot of it lying around. Norm and Max were impressed by his interest, so they taught him everything they knew about the machinery. He was, by nature, introverted. He dressed differently as well, his charms made not of wood and beads, but with wires, circuitry and metal parts.

He was getting through slowly enough. The young blood then finally finished it off.

"Okay then... let's get out of the way... we can come back later this evening."

They were just about to leave when they heard rustling in the bushes. Before the two of them could react, a man wearing stained yellow and brown camouflaged fatigues in a metal frame ran right past them and on to the trap. It sprung, hoisting the man by his leg, and faster than anyone could do anything, he was dangling upside down crying out in panic.

Ar'kadi was dumbfounded.

"Wow." Smiled Shee'kana. "Guess I got it right this time huh?"

* * *

Alex was in a daze. He remembered something about being cut down. Then something about having his head smashed in.

"Alex?... Alex wake up!"he heard someone whisper. Or was it just said? He was slowly coming to his senses.

He was in some kind of clearing surrounded by trees. Then he realised they weren't trees but Na'vi. Lots of them. Of all ages and sizes. They regarded Alex and Noh with a mix of feelings; fear, anger, curiosity and contempt to name a few. Above them, was what Alex first thought was a building. Then he realised that it was a tree a huge tree. One that was as tall as a skyscraper, and with roots that were the size of trees in their own right. One of the Na'vi was right in front of the two humans. He was big (they all were.) but unlike the others, he wore a cloak that had to mean he was some kind of leader. He also looked a little different as well. He indicated that he was waiting for them to speak.

"Uh... what do we do Noh?" whispered Alex.

"Hang on..." Noh tried to say the greetings he had read from the language book that he seldom looked at. His words must have come off wrong because the Na'vi smirked and laughed. The Chieftain (for the humans were convinced he was a Chieftain) smiled and said "Not bad. But I think you just dropped a syllable or two there and said something else."

Alex and Noh's eyes practically popped out of their heads. Not only did the Chieftain speak perfect English, but he spoke with, bizarrely enough; an American accent. Noh stammered. "well-I... We're sorry I..."

Then both Noh and Alex looked at the Chieftains hands. He had Five Fingers. Everything started to click.

"Oh god..." Alex whispered. "You're _him_ aren't you?"


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting

Meeting

"Who's 'Him'?" smirked Jake.  
"You're the guy who uh... went native...or went to the other side or some shit... Jake Sully!" Alex blurted out.  
"That's right." he smiled. "And you might as well add the guy who kicked you RDA humans off this land." His smile might look warm. But it wasn't.  
"Wait a minute, but aren't YOU human as well, and NOT a Na'vi?" frowned Noh through his shiner.

Jake gave him a cold stare. "Once maybe... but not anymore."

Noh cocked his eye muttering something that to Alex sounded a lot like: "Sure then, 'Dances with Wolves'..."

Jake seemed to exude dominance over the two humans brought before him. "In any case, let me ask the questions and you answer them. Starting with how the hell you are breathing in Pandoran air? Humans die from breathing it."

Alex shifted uncomfortably. "Gene Modding." He said.  
"Gene Modding?"

"Gene Modding. We all had to get spliced in a minor way... with Na'vi genes. Now we can breathe the air around here without masks... It also gives us extra resistance to uh... electromagnetic radiation... and extra bone and muscle density for the low gravity."

Jake eyed the two of them. So the RDA had found a way to adapt to life here. Interesting, but chances are that they'll just fuck this world up like Earth.

"Alright then... next question then. How did you get here? It's only been what, six years since you all left, and now you're back? Last I heard it took that long just to get here."  
Noh shrugged "Faster than Light." He said simply.  
"You're kidding me."

"They just created this weird little element with Unobtainium called Eezo. I don't know the details, I'm not a physicist, but it can reduce or increase the mass of an object... in this case a starship... to practically nothing, and send it beyond the speed of light with negligible time warping effects." He gave a small smile. "A journey that once took six years now takes just under two months."

This gave Jake a serious pause for thought. The huge distance from Earth to Pandora was one of the main reasons that the humans couldn't colonize, or send materials or exploit Pandora very quickly. It was similar to what the British or the Spanish encountered when their colonies revolted in America. But with the gap was shrinking... that could mean a whole raft of problems coming up ahead.

"Last question. And this is the important one. Why are you here?"

Noh and Alex knew that this question could very well kill the two of them. Noh approached it with care.

"We came to build a new life... and live in peace... and, uh..."  
"Don't tell me." Jake interrupted. His voice filled with a cold fire. "You came here to start up an honest-to-god colony on Pandora, aren't you?" His gaze seemed to be made out of white hot steel. "You're thinking that, maybe, you can come here and take what you want. That maybe, the land of Pandora is one great, big smorgasbord, huh? That maybe, you can just kill off, or even enslave the uncivilised savages that live here, just like in America or Africa?" He crouched down to the human's level, and pressed his face at them. When he was standing up, Jake looked intimidating. At their level, Jake was terrifying. "Not on my fucking watch."

He got up and said "Tell your bosses and your friends, that they should get the hell off this land now. That they should just go home, and never come back here."

What he didn't expect was for Alex to suddenly say, in a very cool voice, right in his face: "No I will not sir."

Jake turned his head to him. "Excuse me?"

"We're here because we have nowhere else to go."

Alex stood up. He decided to make this 'speech' or whatever it could be called, which was only half formed in his mind and without any planning whatsoever. Because when you've already decided to jump off a cliff to escape the hungry wolves, the only thing that you can really do then, is to press for the abolition of gravity.

"When I was a young, living in the city, my life was shit." He began, looking Jake directly in the eye, but raising his voice loudly enough so that everyone else gathered around could hear him. "I had to wear a gas mask whenever I went outside because the air was utterly corrupted. You had to step over the poor beggars who couldn't afford one because they can't work, because they've got all kinds of sicknesses and disease from having living near toxic waste dumps and working with chemicals. You had to buy food, vitamins and medicine but they are always so expensive because the corporations and companies hiked up the prices because they know they can get away with it. You couldn't see the sun anymore because either you lived in the bowels and sewers of the city, or the sky was completely choked in smog. You had to work a dead end job in some god-forsaken factory somewhere for jack-shit pay, with no hope of advancement, where the chemicals of the place would eventually kill you, just like it did with my dad. And finally, the gangs, which I have tried so hard to hide from and suppress when I was a cop, try to take everything away from you and once raped and killed my little sister. And no-one in the force can help you because they're either too scared or they're on the gangs pay roll or too busy sucking up to the corporations and life just seems to drag on until all you want to do is end it all with either a bottle of pills or a bullet to the head."

He took a deep breath. He never took his eyes off Jake.

"And then one day you get just one chance. You see an advertisement for skilled volunteers who want to sign up to go to The RDA's new colony on Pandora. You see that they are looking for ex-servicemen and especially policemen for the colonial militia. Your family is now all dead, and there's no reason to stay here. You go to the place where they are hiring and after waiting in the lines for hours on end, past all the hopefuls who wish to go there and you hand in your application. Then finally it happens. You get a new message. You've just been accepted and that I need to show up to the train depot soon to get to boot camp and training. Then when you've arrived the instructor asks you one last question. 'It's dangerous on Pandora. All sorts of things could kill you. Are you really sure that you want to go?'"

"And do you know what I said?" He asked Jake.

Jake was quiet.

"I said 'It can't be any more dangerous than life on Earth.'"

He moved up to Jake "We are not just talking about the Unobtainium here. There are millions of people back home, including me, who would risk everything that they had to get here. They are willing to _die_ to stay here, in a land where they can breathe the air, walk through the jungle and hunt. A land where they can live as people should live. And as long as there is Unobtainium here that can be mined, or trees that can be cut down, or any kind of way to make a living here, they'll take it. Because this is a place where they can start a new life."

"We are not going to go away Jake. As long as there is Unobtainium here, or a new life, we will _never _leave you alone. So you'd better learn to get used to us." Then he went back to his partner and sat back down.

The atmosphere was palpable. There were many other Na'vi that could understand English, and those who could not were being quietly told about what Alex had said from the ones who could.

"Come with me." Jake commanded.

The two humans got back to their feet. They were then surrounded by Na'vi hunters. Jake said something in Na'vi to the new guards, who proceeded to guide them somewhere in the bowels of the Hometree. The crowd started to slowly disperse.

"Nice speech Churchill." Noh laconically smirked at Alex in his usual snarky fashion. "Maybe you'll feel 'oh so pious' after they attach their scalps to their spears."

"Oh shush, I had to make a point."

* * *

Jake was back at his 'Quarters'. He was sitting down on the mats along with anyone in the tribe who had power. Beside was his mate Neytiri, his friend Norm, the now elderly Tsahik of the Omaticaya; Mo'at, and the Tsahik of the Kalisthaya tribe. As well as this, there were a couple of other men and women gathered around on the mats in front of him. This was the biggest thing since they found a new Hometree to live in. Miri was out playing with her friends. Jake knew that Neytiri would take her to the Tree of Voices tomorrow.

Jake felt a pang of sadness. _I wish Grace was here._

Jake was referring to his old scientist-cum-boss-cum-mentor; Grace Augustine. She was the scientist at the head of the old avatar program, the human initiative to use Na'vi avatars to try to relate with the Na'vi natives. She knew more about the Na'vi and Pandora than any other human in the galaxy, hell, she was the first to actually come up with scientific evidence that the Worldmind existed in reality. She was also, for intents and purposes: dead. When they were escaping from Hells Gate, she took a bullet when Quaritch shot at them. They had tried to transfer her spirit to her avatar in order to save her life, but she didn't make it. Jake didn't forget what she said before she left.

"_I saw her Jake... she's real... she's beautiful."_

Jake missed her. She was hard on him at the start, but then she seemed to soften up to him as the weeks went by. She had backed Jake to the end when the Hometree was destroyed. It was gut wrenching for Jake just to see her die like that.

Jake rubbed his head. "OK then... lets figure out what to do with our guests here. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

"These people are dangerous chieftain. We can't trust them." Said Mu'kala resolutely.  
Neytiri cocked her eye. "You're just saying that because one of them tripped you up." She smirked mischievously.

Mu'kala looked at her fiercely for a minute.

"Oh, shit... I'm sorry..." Neytiri whispered with genuine concern.

"Enough. Mo'at, What do you think we should do?"

Mo'at was the tribes Tsahik, or shaman. She was the one who understood the Worldmind better than anybody and had years of experience. Age was coming to her though, she needed a stick to move around now. And she did her best to impart her knowledge to her daughter Neytiri.

"I'm not so sure about these ones." "The man who had the courage to stand up to you may not be a leader or a great man, but he seems honest. I _think_ that we can trust him, at least him." She gave a small smile. "He has the same spark of life, and bravery that you had when you came to us Jake."

Jake nodded. Norm swore that he saw him blush of all things. "Maybe... but just because one man is nice doesn't mean the rest of them are. Look at the RDA... I bet they haven't changed one bit..."

Norm spoke up. "That guy also mentioned something about the spaceships being faster."  
"So?" queried Neytiri.  
"It means that the journey from there to here has shortened." He said seriously. "The fact that it took six years to get here from Earth was one of our biggest defences. If it's shortened, then it becomes easier for the RDA to send stuff our way."  
"Like what?"  
"Like, reinforcements, supplies, and REALLY big guns."  
Mu'kala shrugged. "We saw plenty of big guns in the last battle."  
"Trust me friend." Jake said with the same seriousness of Norm. "You haven't even seen the Big Guns yet."

"Where are our guests now Chieftain?"

"Oh, they're cooling off under the eye of some of our warriors..."

"I say that you should kill them right now." Said a dark voice.

Everyone turned and stared at the Tsahik of the Kalisthaya tribe. She was about average height, but she seemed even bigger wearing a Mohawk of dreads. Her people had suffered when the humans came. Mercenaries sometimes took their frustrations out on her peoples land, their livestock and the people themselves. When they tried to retaliate, they were considered hostile to the RDA, and as such RDA mercs had shoot-to-kill orders. Many were killed. As a result, the Kalisthaya people resented it when they realised that some of the humans were staying, and there was outrage when they heard that the chieftain of the Omaticaya was an ex-human. Relations between them were strained, but reasonably peaceful. Sort-of, anyways.

"I _really_ don't think that's a very wise or diplomatic solution to the problem Hesh'ka." Jake said with slow care. "For a start, the humans wouldn't like it."  
"That doesn't matter." She said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Because after that, I suggest we marshal our forces and attack Hells Gate. Strike First."  
"_Strike first?"_ Jake couldn't believe his ears.  
"Yes. What was that your charming general once called it? Ah yes... a 'pre-emptive strike.'"

Jake had a problem on his hands. For a start, many were killed in the Battle for Pandora. Many Na'vi had died, and a new generation had only just reached maturity. His tribe could not afford to get in another war.

"Listen, I don't know what you are thinking right now, but we are not going to just kill them."  
"Hmph... I thought as much." She muttered. "I wouldn't expect a _human_ to do what is necessary..."

Jake started to lose his diplomatic cool. "I'd suggest you watch your fucking tongue when you're around here." He snapped. "As a guest of my tribe I'd think twice before saying that in front of my face."

"Well then I should warn you about what they are like. But you already do know huh? They are slow subtle people, always biding their time, slowly eating away at the land. The people on the land don't notice anything to bad, yet. Then the Sky-People make their move. The people then get eaten as well. In fact, they don't even know that until great beast has burped."

"Just stating the facts."  
"Leave. Now."

Hesh'ka got up. "Very well, then 'chieftain'. I'll go for now." She walked out in a casual fashion. "I just hope that you can wake up before they've eaten you and your people, 'Jake'." She left for her guest quarters.

Jake gritted his teeth.

"Jake, calm down." Neytiri calmly said holding his shoulder. "She's just trying to get under your skin."  
"I know. I just... fffuu..."

Mo'at spoke to Jake. "Have you made your decision yet?"

There was a long pause.

"They're going to wonder where their men have gone. You weren't exactly subtle when you captured them Neytiri." Jake said with his originally serious tone. "For all we know, they're sending out a search party out to find them right now."  
"But they don't know that we live here now." Neytiri defended herself. "It will take days to find us."  
"True, but they could easily start at the Tree of Voices. We don't want them over there for now. So we're going to go and deliver our two guests safely back to Hells Gate in one piece."

Mu'kala started. "Wait chieftain, are you saying that we are going to where the humans are?"  
"That's exactly what I said. Go back down to the others, and pick six hunters to go out with us. We'll ride out on _Pa'li_, the Sky-Peoples guns shoot down anything that flies."  
"Won't they have guns down on the ground as well?"  
"Almost definitely. However, I'm sure we can convince our guests to let us in without getting our heads blown off. We head out in the morning. Does anyone have anything else to say?"

* * *

The two 'guests' in question were sitting down with their backs leaning against the great roots of the Hometree. They were escorted to a small 'hollow' where a root started to turn, creating a sort of curved wall, where they could be watched without to much trouble. Both Alex and Noh were watched by hunters, so when Alex asked to go to the toilet (no easy feat in itself) he had to be escorted to a bush by three of them at a time. He didn't know where his helmet was.

Humorously enough, when Alex zipped down his fly to pee, one of the Na'vi, a young woman, asked in an amazed voice "Whoa, you sky-people can do that with your pants?"

Needless to say, this was on Alex's Top Ten Most Uncomfortable Scenarios.

When he got back, Noh was playing with pebbles. He was just throwing them at a small circle he had made in the dirt. A small meal was then served, consisting of some of Pandora's indigenous tropical fruit. They were hesitant at first to eat, but after Alex took a bite, most of it had disappeared into their stomachs.

They had just finished when a solitary figure caught Alex's eye. She was different from the other Na'vi. For a start, she had some sort of dreadlock mohawk, as well as red clothing and paint. She stood just beyond the guards, and she gave the humans what Alex thought was one of the meanest looks he had seen in his life. Then she left, just like that.

"What was that about?" Alex asked to no one in particular.  
"That was Hesh'ka. Tsahik of the Kalisthaya tribe." Answered the young huntress. "She doesn't have much... what's the word you have? sympa... sinpa..."  
"Sympathy?" Noh said, trying to be helpful.  
"That's right... sympathy... She does not have much sympathy for you humans."

"You don't say..." Noh muttered.

"What my friend Shee'kana is trying to say," Cut in another guard "Is that hers goes a little deeper than what most of us around here feel about you."  
"How so?" asked Alex.  
"Her tribe suffered greatly when your kind came. And she lost both her husband and son."  
"Oh..."

Alex thought back to the look the old woman had given them. It just seemed to be filled with anger, filled with... _hatred_. Pure, enraged hatred. It scared the hell out of him.

So much, he didn't go to sleep until much later.

* * *

Jake and Neytiri were playing with Miri. It was getting late, so soon they would tell her to go to sleep. Then (as all young children do) she asked a question.

"Mum, dad? Who were the two small men that came here?"

Both Jake and Neytiri looked at each other. Jake took the lead. Best to be honest.

"Those two were Sky-People. Miri."  
"Are they bad people?"

Good question.

"Not all of them are bad." Neytiri said simply. "Some of them have helped us past."  
"With what?"  
"There were some bad people who tried to harm our people." Jake started "Some of them were the ones who destroyed the Hometree, just before you were born. Some of the Sky People saved us from the bad people."  
"But weren't the Sky People the ones who destroyed the Hometree in the beginning Daddy?"  
Jake sighed. "Yep... they were the ones who did it."  
"Then doesn't that make all of the Sky People bad people then?"

"No!" Jake said a little louder than he would have liked. Miri seemed to shy away a little. Neytiri gave Jake a Look. "Sorry, it's just..."

He sighed "Listen, you can't just assume that everyone in a tribe or of a people is either bad or good. Some of the people will be good, other people..."  
"Not good?"  
"That's right." Smiled Neytiri. "This means that those two Sky People could either be good or bad. You have to get to know them, by say... talking to them, in order to find out for yourself."  
"So I need to know them... by talking to them?"

"That's my girl." Jake brightened. "It's getting late though...I think you should be getting to sleep now. Remember, tomorrows the day when you first visit the Tree of Voices!"  
"Aww daddy..." Miri groaned. "Can you tell me a bed time story?"

"Hmm? Jake I think it's your turn tonight." She gave a yawn, and gave a mischievous smile. "See you soon." And with that, she bounced towards her hammock.

"Well then little mite... what do you want to hear tonight?" Jake grinned.

"Tell me a scary story!"

"A scary story! Oooh somebody wants to be frightened!" Jake was always surprised that Miri liked the odd ghost story. She seemed to like them as much as the other types, but unlike other kids, she seemed to steel herself past them. Neytiri was always concerned about it, but she seemed to accept them.

"Alrighty then. Sit down, sit down." He thought for a moment.

"Once upon a time, there was a very proud Na'vi. He boasted that he could hunt and kill anything, from the smallest viperwolves, to the mightiest Palalukan. He was certainly capable of it. And he did kill many of these creatures. But few people liked him. Whenever another hunter came in with a worthy kill, the Proud One would just say that it does not compare with his other kills. And whenever he came back from a hunting party with other Na'vi, he would so that all the work was done by him alone, even when this was not the case. This caused him to be greatly resented among the tribe."

"One day the people were terrorized by a great, Beast of a Palalukan. What the Sky people call a Thanaptor. People were both scared and cautious. They reasoned that they should send out a large hunting party to try to kill it without too much danger. But the Proud One boasted that he could kill the Beast all by himself, and then eat it for dinner. Before the party had set off, he went and stalked the Beast by himself. He then created a large trap for it to fall into, where he would spear it himself."

"Did he do it daddy?"

"Yes. He succeeded to killing the great Beast. After that, he cut the creature up, and since he was proud and selfish, he ate the prime cuts himself that evening. Before he went to bed, he felt a strange feeling in his stomach, but he assumed that nothing was wrong and bed down for the night."

"What happened then?"

"Well, the hunting tried to find him, but they could not. He was nowhere to be found. They searched for over two nights, not because they liked him, but because since they could not find the Beast anywhere, they assumed that he must have succeeded. They did manage to find his camp, where they found his tools, and the other cuts of meat, but the Proud One was nowhere."

"What happened to him?"

"They found out on the third day. That evening, a woman went to a tree to gather a fruit to make a gourd, when she saw a Na'vi man behaving strangely. As she went to see who he was, she realised that not only was it the Proud One, but he was hunched over, stumbling around, and making strange, animal noises. When she asked if he was alright, it happened."

"What happened?" Miri was biting her fingernail in the tension.

"As soon as she asked if he was alright. The Proud One's suddenly shook, and suddenly!" Jake flourished, reaching the climax. "A great Palalukan tore itself out of the skin of the Proud One. Despite being much bigger than the Na'vi hunter, it was now as big as it used to be."

"Y-you used to be?"

"Yes, for it bore the same markings as the Beast. But instead of devouring the woman, It ran off into the forest, leaving the terrified woman running for help."

"What happened then?"

"She managed to get to her home, where she cried in fear to the others over what she saw. Although no one believed her, they sent a hunting party to check."

Jake started to give an evil smile. "It turned out, when the Proud one had eaten the Beast himself, it had somehow reformed in his belly. It then started to devour, _consume_ the Proud one from the inside, over two days and two nights. Eventually all there was of the Proud one, was a beast held in by skin."

"That's all the Hunting party ever found. They never saw the Beast again, but they did find the Proud one. All that remained of him was skin, lying on the forest floor. Nothing else but skin and Beast."

Miri was staring at Jake. Probing him to see if there was anything else.  
"And thats my story. You need to go to sleep now. You got a big day tomorrow."  
"Okay daddy."

"Hey..." he said in a reassuring manner. "It's okay. It's just a story."


	4. Chapter 4: Chase

Chase

"Wake up buttercup." A familiar human voice sounded through Alex's head. "Breakfast's up."  
Alex groaned like he went to sleep drunk. "Have they killed us yet?"  
"Nah, they're still fattening us up for the big feast this evening, dude." Noh smiled, motioning to a small basket of fruit.

Alex cocked his eye at his compatriot.

"Aw c'mon... They're not gonna kill us yet... In fact one of the guards just told me what's gonna happen now."  
Alex sat up slowly. His exo-suit whirred a bit, warming up. "So?"  
"They're gonna return us back home man! Well, at least back to Hells Gate." He looked pretty chuffed. "In a little while or so Jake the Big man is going come over with a bunch of guys on those big, six-legged Clyde's Dales... what do you call them?... oh yeah, Dire Horses. After that, we're gonna come along with them for the journey back home."

"How far away are we?"

"The guy said that Hells Gate is about... a solid day's journey, from here. We'll get there in the evening." He was grinning happily. "So eat up man. We got a hard day's ride ahead of us."

* * *

Jake was getting his gear together. He took with him his bone knife, his machine gun, bow, lance and lunch. As he was getting ready however, his eye drifted to the mirror.

It was a little thing, small enough to be held in a human hand. It was just a small thing that he took from the wrecked mobile lab they had when Jake was still human, just a little one for shaving and stuff. He looked into it and saw his face. It wasn't like other Na'vi faces. His eyes were too small for a start. His Avatar body wasn't a perfect translation of a pure Na'vi body. It never would be. For a brief moment, he thought he saw his old face in the mirror. But that was probably just a trick of his mind.

_No._ He reiterated to himself. _No way. I'm a Na'vi. That's who I am. _He tossed the mirror back down where it lay with some of his other belongings.

_I'm better than a human now..._

* * *

Alex and Noh didn't have enough to do. The guards had stopped talking to them, so now, all they had to now, was wait and watch the Hometree come to life. He watched as people were descending the great trunk, practically dancing over the roots that made up the steps of the place. He listened as he heard singing, drifting down to the ground, beautiful sounds that brightened his mood up. He watched the banshees soar above him, hunters and fliers, soaring without a care in the world.

Sometimes he privately thought that this place was WAY too good to be true. He was still willing to bet that some people in the tribe hated each other's guts, that some felt jealousy because some people were better than the other, or that some mothers were grieving the loss of a son on a hunting disaster. He remembered the look that that Tsahik gave him last night. Pure hatred. All in all, Alex was comfortable in betting that beneath all this, the Na'vi were saints and jerks. Just like humanity.

Alex had to admit it. The Hometree was ridiculously huge. Of course, he had seen huge industrial monoliths, skyscrapers and arcologies that would have dwarfed this when he was back on Earth, but the fact that this was one great, big natural tree was what made it so awesome. Back home, the only plants he really ever saw were either genetically modified; small stunted things that grew in pot plants that someone had kept as a treasure in their home, or on old nature videos. The only grass that he ever saw was what grew through the cracks in the ground. Only the rich, sipping clean water in their air-conditioned arcologies had the money to afford real Earth plants. Everyone else had to make do and survive.

And now here he was. On another world, watching real plants and animals, real people, go about life. If anyone told him five years ago that he would be coming here, he would have laughed in their face in a spiteful fashion. A zombie apocalypse would have sounded more probable, he had seen enough horror movies to believe that.

He watched as a group of na'vi women carried gourds of water towards the Hometree, they seemed to laugh and gossip about what sounded to Alex like how some big shot hunter had tried to prove himself big time by catching a dire horse on foot, but slipped and had fallen face first into a dire horse turd. Noh must have understood what was going on because he laughed; saying that one of his old friends had tried a similar thing when he was running after a car, but he had slipped up on a dog turd. This gave Alex an almost comforting thought. Those alien women, gossiping about the epic fail of a hunter, could have been another gaggle of girls chatting to each other while walking down the street, talking about boys and school. Maybe the two races weren't so different after all.

"I see you." An utterly innocent and small voice said right above Alex.

He looked up. Lying on the gargantuan root that he was leaning against, was a small girl. Well, to call her small is relative; she was almost as tall as Alex's chest. She seemed to exude a friendly curiosity. Like a dog trying to make friends with a cat.

"Uh... I see you too." Alex tried in his rusted Na'vi.  
"You're a Sky-Person right?"  
"Yes..."  
"What's your home like?"

Alex and Noh looked at each other.

"Um... what do you mean? Hells Gate, or Earth?"  
"The place where all the Sky-People come from."  
"Earth, right...uh..."

Noh then said quite bluntly, "It's a shithole compared to here."

"NOH!" Alex cried out in shock. "For the love of God man, no foul language with a kid!"  
"What's a shithole?"  
"Just forget it, just forget it, it's a BAD word." Alex quickly said, doing damage control. "What my friend here is trying to say, is that Earth is not a good place compared to here."  
"Why?"  
"Uh... The air's dirty and polluted. There are hardly any plants or animals. And the other humans try to make your life miserable." Noh said, trying to be helpful again.  
"Why is it like that?"

Alex sighed. "Because... we don't change. Not very well anyways..."  
"That's why we're here." Noh spoke up. "It's better to live here than live at home."

"Can you live with us?"

That's the question. Unfortunately, she didn't get the answer.

**"MIRI GET DOWN FROM THERE!" **An angry voice shouted, blasting the peace of the scene away.

Alex looked forward in shock. Jake was dismounting his horse, keeping his eyes locked on the group. He stomped towards them with the impact of an Alpha lion. The guards started to cower back from the advancing figure coming for them. He went right past them and grabbed the child, taking her away from the humans, speaking angrily to her in Na'vi.

Both Alex and Noh stood completely still. Like deer caught in headlights.

"Is he going to kill us?" whispered Noh.

"Probably." Alex whispered

* * *

"Miri what the hell were you doing?" Jake yelled. "Why the hell did you go talk to them? They're Sky People for crying out loud! You can't trust them!"  
"But dad..."  
"You had your mother scared to death! We didn't know where you were!"

"But dad, I was just talking to them! You and mum said that I should know them before I call them something." Miri pleaded, close to tears.

_Ah fuck..._ she was a little too inquisitive for her own good.

Jake froze. "Listen Miri... I didn't think that you'd actually go and do it..." his anger started to dissipate. "Look, just... don't do it alone. Okay? You really had us worried there for a moment."  
"Okay then..."  
"Hey, don't cry. It's nice of you to show some initiative." He smiled as reassuringly as he could under the circumstances. "Anyway, you'd better get back to your mother. You've got a big day ahead of you."

* * *

Jake was coming back. While this would normally mean to Alex and Noh that they were both going to die, they relaxed when they saw how Jake's posture was much more laid back than before.

"I think this is yours." A voice came from behind, and above him. The scarred hunter was standing there, and in his hands was Alex's helmet. It must have been torn off him when he had his head smashed in during his escape attempt. Alex gingerly took it from his hands. "Uh... thanks."

"Come, We're heading off." He said motioning to the towering Horses in front of them. They were over four metres high, had the same six legs as everything else around here, and they seemed as intelligent as the creatures Alex saw in old nature vids. The strangest thing about them was their tendrils, the long antennae that protruded out of their skulls. They consistently seemed to fan out, and Alex still could not get over the 'bonding' or neural link between the riders and their mounts. The whole concept... just seemed invasive to him. Of course he knew that was just from an alien point of view. It was probably as natural as... well he couldn't guess.

"Uh... I think we're going to need some help getting on these." Noh said looking at the huge mounts nervously.

Jake spoke to the scarred hunter. "Mu'kala, give him a boost on to your mount." He looked towards another Na'vi, one that was adorned in, strangely enough, bits and bobs of scrap metal, wires and circuitry. "Ar'kadi, do the same with the other, he's with you." He then casually mounted his own horse in a fluid motion.

The Na'vi known as Ar'kadi politely stooped to give Alex a boost. Mu'kala on the other hand, simply mounted his own horse, and crudely hoisted Noh up to behind him. Neither the human nor the Na'vi was very happy about it.

"All set then? Alright then..." He turned back to the people who were watching. Among them, were Miri and the Na'vi woman who must have been her mother.  
"Neytiri, I'll be back tomorrow evening." Jake called out. "Miri, you be good when you head to the tree with your mother and grandmother. They know what to do. And be nice to Norm and our friend Hesh'ka when you're there okay?"  
"Okay then daddy."  
"You stay safe with the sky people Jake." The woman known as Neytiri called out. "Don't take any risks with them."  
"Thanks, see you all later." He turned back to the other riders in his group. "Let's ride."

They moved as one, back out into the forest. They moved out of the towering embrace of the Hometree and into the jungle.

"You know, it's probably rude of me, but I don't actually know your names." Jake opened up in English.  
"Oh... I'm Alex. Alex Garnett."  
"Johnny Noh." Opened up the other human. "But please, just call me Noh."

"Okay then. This is Mu'kala..." he motioned to the scarred hunter whom Noh was riding with. "That's Ar'kadi..." the strange Na'vi with the human charms whom Alex was riding with. "There's Shee'kana..." he motioned to the same young huntress who had talked to the humans last night. "...here's Sha'han, that's Kal'el and behind me is Las'kan." He finished. "Just don't shoot your mouth off, and we'll be fine. Any questions?"

Alex's hand went up.

"Was that your wife and kid back there?" he asked.  
"None of your damn business."

Noh's hand went up.

"This had better be good." he asked tiredly.  
"I need to go for a pee."

* * *

They trotted through the forest, forded through rivers, and galloped whenever the ground got flat. The forest was alive with... well, life. The birds and the bees (or their closest equivalents) buzzed and flew around them, strange animals rustled in the bushes, and fantastic colours and smells bombarded Alex's senses.

Naturally however, riding on an alien animal related to a now, highly rare earth animal was not something that came to either of the humans naturally. They clutched the saddles, tucked just in front of their riders. It kind of reminded Alex of the hobbits from an old 20th flick that he once watched, long ago. He was not very comfortable with the whole concept, but he toughed it out. Just like he was having to tough out his scrunched crotch.

To try to alleviate the boredom of the journey, Alex tried to enter in conversation. The other Na'vi sometimes chatted to one another, about how another relative, or how last night was, or what they should expect from the humans at the colony. At was at this that Alex interjected in the conversation trying to speak as well as he could. The others regarded him with disinterest at first, but they started to soften up after a while, when they realized that he was making a decent attempt to learn their language. He'd ask them the Na'vi words to the various plants and animals that they passed by. They in turned asked about human words, like his exo-suit. After a while, they started to ask about him.

"You called yourself a... 'cop' last night." Asked one of them. "Is it that a type of warrior?"

"Hm? Oh, not quite. I helped keep order back home. I had to stop bad people, thieves, murderers, 'criminals' we call them, from getting away with their crimes." Alex said helpfully. "We 'arrest' them, which is kind of like capturing them, and then we punish them. It's kind of a more peaceful version of a warrior, or a soldier as we call them."  
"Really?"  
"Yep, for a start, we don't try to shoot first."  
"That's kind of like what we are right now." Noh spoke up. "We're militia. We help keep order among the colonists, as well as defend them from the beasts out here."

"Hold on a second... I thought those other soldiers... the ones in green clothing, were the ones who did that." Asked Ar'kadi.

"Nah, nah man. Those guys are RDA mercenaries' dude. Kinda like 'warriors for hire'. They're there to help train us for one we have to take over for ourselves." Noh continued. "They're not the nicest people around..."  
"How so?" Shee'kana asked uncomfortably.  
"To put it in terms you would understand, many of them were the survivors of the same group who burned down your old Hometree, and tried to kill you all." Alex said flatly.

There was silence.

"That, and they're all jerks." Noh chatted normally. "They've always looked down on us man... and not in the ok 'I'm more experienced than you' kind, but in the 'You're all a bunch of soft weaklings who'd never kill anybody and we get paid more than you.'"

Jake finally decided to speak. "What's life like back on Earth now?"

"Same shit, different day. It hasn't really changed since you were last there Jake. That's all I'll say on it." sighed Alex.

* * *

They stopped for lunch at one point; a few fruits wrapped in leaves kept their hunger satisfied. Then they kept up their journey through the forest. The afternoon past without too many interesting events. Although the group did get to know each other a bit better.

"So... who is the leader around here?" asked Mu'kala.

"We-ell, our military leader is a guy called Howard Carson." Started Noh. "He's in charge of the RDA merc's around here. He's a bit of a cold jerk really, not very friendly with us militia. I have a feeling that he did black ops in the old days back on Earth. On the other hand, the leader of the colonial militia is Major Robert Halverson. He used to be a cop, like many of us. A bit rough with the rest of us, but he's still friendly in a gruff sort of way. He's also an excellent judge of character. Heh..."  
"What?"  
"We actually call him by his nickname when he's not looking... we call him 'Old Hellboy' behind his back."  
"What's a hellboy? Asked Las'kan.  
"One of the other colonists, a mechanic, said he reminded him of an old fantasy hero called 'Hellboy'. Said both of their personalities were alike... Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the Director of the whole colony, some corporate douche bag... Director Selfridge..."

"Selfridge?" Jake said suddenly alert. "As in: Parker Selfridge?"

"Yeah dude, how did you know about that?" asked Noh, surprised.  
"I knew him from before. Back when the RDA was here last time, he was the one who gave the go-ahead for the Hometree attack."  
"Hmm, makes sense. There are rumours floating around that he's here as some kind of punishment. He doesn't show it in his public speeches, but the guys an asshole. Everyone who's met him in person says that he really just wants to get back home on the next transport."

"When is the next transport?" Jake asked.

"In about two months. There's only one ship with FTL right now, but it's making a continuous loop. From here, to Earth, to back again takes about four months." Answered Alex.

* * *

The rest of the journey went on. The sun went down, sure, and evening spread around Pandora, but it wasn't dark at all. The land glowed in bio-luminescence. The tree's the plants, the horses even the Na'vi were glowing. The only odd ones out were the two humans straddled in front of two Na'vi riders. The land was still alive.

"So where exactly are you from Noh?" asked Jake.  
"Meh... my parents were from Korea, but I grew up in North America. Joined the army, got kicked out, joined the colony program, met Alex in boot camp, came here, and got kidnapped. That's the story of my life."  
"Wait, you got kicked out of the army?"  
"Very important lesson that I failed to learn. Battlesuits and alcohol don't mix."  
"Then why the hell did the RDA hire YOU?"  
Noh shrugged. "Fuck knows man. But hey, don't question a good thing."

It was getting darker.

"You know what was the funniest thing in boot camp? It was you Jake."  
"ME? What do you mean?"  
"Oh you were the poster villain of the Na'vi. Some paraplegic loser who goes and gets a second chance at living again, but backstabs the RDA's generous offer and betrays the humans at the Hallelujah mountains, all for some native chick who..."  
"I've heard enough." Jake snapped.

Noh shrugged. "Suit yourself, I'm just saying what the RDA says about you. It looked phoney from the start and a lot of the left leaning Earth media think you're a..."

Then the lights went out.

Every dot of bioluminescence in the forest, every light on the trees, every bug in the area, the dots on the Dire Horses, and every small shining dot on the Na'vi, simultaneously went out. It was as if someone flicked off the light switch.

The area was plunged into total darkness.

Everyone stopped. Everyone stopped moving, everyone stopped talking and everyone stopped breathing.

Alex's eyes started to just to the dim light. At least the planet still reflected light like the Earth moon. He could make out the other Na'vi riders. They were spooked. They looked around with wide eyes, gripping their weapons tightly. Their mounts shared their feelings.

"W-what... what just happened?" whispered Shee'kana.  
"I...don't know." whispered Jake.  
"Is this natural?" Alex whispered.  
"Hasn't happened in my lifetime..." Mu'kala mused. "Or in anybody's..."  
"Oh man, it's quiet..." breathed Noh, shaken.

He was right. It seemed as if every bug and animal in the forest had stopped. All that could be heard was the rustling of the trees. The place was unnatural.

"Hold on..." Alex whispered. "I've got something..." He took a small torch out of his pocket and turned it on. The path in front of the group was illuminated only partially, but everyone started to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Let's go." Jack quietly ordered. "We're not much further from Hells Gate."

* * *

The riders moved on warily. Everyone still had the idea of where to go. Soon, they started hearing noise, and seeing faint lights in the distance.

"I think we're there." Alex whispered.

One of the Na'vi started to curse and mutter under his breath. He was clutching his head.

"What's wrong Las'kan?" Ar'kadi whispered.  
"I've just got this bitch of a headache..."

They kept going. Alex started to notice that the other Na'vi were holding their own heads every now and then, or tossed their ponytails.

Then he started to hear it. He didn't know what it was, or where it came from. It was a sort of ringing noise. It ringed and hummed and slithered past his ears and into his head.

"Do any of you guys hear anything?" He whispered.

No one was paying any intention. The na'vi started to groan and moan, clutching their heads. Their horses kept walking. "I do. It's nothing to worry about Alex." Noh said quite conversationally.

Alex got spooked. "Okay, that's it! Everyone stop! Stop, please!" The horses started to slow down.

As soon as they came to a complete halt, Jake Sully fell off his horse. He didn't say anything, he just tipped over the side. One of the riders followed. Mu'kala was leaning right on his back and fell off himself, leaving Noh hunched over the saddle. Ar'kadi fell to the side. The others sat there, hunched over.

"Shit! What the hell's going on Noh!" cried Alex.  
"It's... really sad... she doesn't like being there... she needs... help." Noh said his voice varying in pitch and depth.  
"Noh? You okay?" Alex shined his flashlight on Noh.

His face was covered with blood. It was coming out of his mouth, out of his nose, out of his eyes, from his brow and even out of his ears. He had this sort of look on his face, like he was on drugs, or in nirvana. Alex couldn't see Noh's eyes, his flashlight's light shined them to reflection, but he could tell something was wrong with them. He was looking directly at Alex, almost smiling.

"But don't worry... she's gonna be alright." He giggled, and fell off his horse.

Alex sat on his horse speechless.

Then the sound started to get louder. It was everywhere. He felt funny. His head really started to hurt. He touched his brow; his hand came off wet. He could feel blood seeping down his ears, brow, and nose and out of his eyes. He started to get dizzy. He was _seeing_ things...

And then he fell off.

* * *

_Alex came to his senses. He was lying down, he was aware of that much at least. He was vaguely aware of the ground being just that; earth. He felt... different. Not in a bad way, but not in a good way either. He felt... immaterial. That was the word, like he was there, but at the same time, not there. He felt like he was as sober as a man could possibly get._

_He sat up. The ground... felt real enough. The problem was is that he could barely see. The place, the realm, the area or whatever one could call it was lit up well from sources he could not find. The problem in question was that the place was as foggy as hell. Wait, no fog was not the right word, as well as being kind of foggy; the place seemed grainy, as if he was seeing the world through an old fashioned movie camera. There was barely any colour at all. The land was grey and white, with shadows of black in the background._

_He heard... voices? Rustling? Both? The place wasn't right. The sounds were growing more and more intense. They were quite a variety. There were the natural sounds of running water, the sound of trees swaying, the sound of rock falls, the wind, crunching leaves and the calls of animals. And there were sounds of machines. Of helicopters and planes. Of thumping and grinding. Of sirens and trucks. Of machine and nerve. The sounds became more and more intense. The volume was escalating. Alex covered his ears._

What the fuck IS this place?

_He looked around. He saw bodies on the ground. They were the Na'vi members of his journey. At first Alex thought that they were dead, but then he could see that they were still breathing. They had no colour, which wasn't surprising. Neither Jake nor Noh were among them._

"_Hello?" he called out. "Anybody?"_

_He started to make out voices in the sounds. They were speaking in both human and na'vi. He strained to hear them._

"_... can assure you that these blue-skinned savages will pose no problem..."_

"_...side effects of the modding..."_

"_...from so little, to so big..."_

"_...have to tell her sometime Jake..."_

"_...They've taken us! TO EAT!..."_

"_...don't take any risks..."_

"_...had your mother scared to death!..."_

"_...first order of business..."_

"_...But dad, I was just talking to them!..."_

_Alex strained his ears. He swore to god that some of the phrases were familiar. He was trying to make sense of this world, trying to sane in a place that had no sanity. The noise and the voices grew to become unceasingly loud. As loud as a typhoon. His ears didn't feel so bad, but his head was buckling under the pressure. It was starting to hurt badly, feeling like it was about to cave in. Alex screamed. He couldn't take it anymore._

_Just when he dropped to his knees the voices stopped. Then he knew they weren't gone. They were replaced. Only one voice seemed to be heard._

"_Can you live with us?"_

_Then silence._

_He got up. The voices had subsided. He looked around. The place was still the same. He thought he saw a figure walking around, but that was just a trick of his mind._

"_Is there someone there?"_

_He saw a shadowy figure move towards him. Alex figured that it was human, it had the same size and shape, and he was aware of it wearing human clothes. It had got to have been a woman at least._

_Then he felt a wind. Some kind of great wind blowing at him. He struggled to stand up, he felt himself being pulled back. He leaned forward trying to keep up. The Shadow came forward. It tried to grab his hand, tried to help him, but it was too late. Alex slipped and fell back._

_Everything faded to black._

* * *

Alex woke up hacking and coughing through the blood. He spat out the stuff that was in his mouth and wiped off the blood that was coagulating on his face. Strangely enough, he felt physically okay. His nose, eyes and ears didn't hurt at all. His head still ached from... well, from whatever that was.

He sat up. It was still dark. The lights hadn't returned yet. The horses were just standing and milling around, chewing at the odd plant or just grazing. His compatriots on the other hand, were still lying the ground.

"Guys?... People! People wake up! Wake up for Christ's sake, wake up!" He cried.

He rushed over to Noh. He was also covered in blood. Alex wiped it off him and shook him. To his relief, Noh started coughing, and came to his senses.

"Wha... What-the-fuck just happened?" He groggily asked. Alex shook him.  
"How many fingers am I holding?"  
"... None?"  
"Good man, here, come on, get up..."

They went to check their Na'vi guardians. None of them had any blood of any kind on their faces, with the exception of Jake, but it was a small amount and it was probably just from his fall. They all came to their own senses when Alex splashed a water bottle in their faces. They were frightened and shocked as to what just happened.

"... and then Noh started to say weird stuff just before he fell off-" Alex was saying, trying to tell what happened, when Noh suddenly said "What? I said something?"  
"Yeah dude! You were going on about how 'she' was really sad, and needed some help or some shit."  
Noh drew a blank. "Okay, I remember everything about my head hurting and all, but I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything. You sure I said something?"  
"Positive."  
"If you say so."

Jake got himself together. "We can talk about this later, okay? It's still dark as hell, and we need to get our asses to Hells Gate right now, I really don't want to be here." He ordered, trying to keep himself composed.

The other riders went to the saddles. Ar'kadi and Mu'kala tried to help them up on board. "Hurry up!" Sha'han whispered. "I really think there's something out there!" The humans were on board their mounts; Alex was behind Ar'kadi instead of in front, while Noh was still in front of Mu'kala. Kal'el was having trouble with his getting on his own.

"There's something snarled up on my foot..."

He ripped of a small vine that was caught on his leg.

"Okay, that's it, let's go guys."

The others in the group were staring at him in horror.

"What? It was just a vine..."

Then he realised that they weren't looking at him. They were looking _behind_ him.

He slowly looked behind himself.

It was big. It was standing on a root. It was big enough to make out in the dark. It had six legs, dark chitinous plates, and giant fangs. Its armoured head gave it the appearance of an Earth panther. It looked like it was primed and engineered for power. It stood there taking the entire group in.

Then it pounced.

Kal'el screamed as the Thanator bore down on him. Absolute chaos spread. The horses were now galloping for their lives. Everyone was screaming and trying to get away. It was a miracle that they didn't separate, or get lost on the way.

* * *

Soon Jake called out everyone to slow down. "We don't have to worry now... that Palalukan's probably picking his teeth now..."

"What the fuck Jake?" cried Alex. "If we were still knocked out cold, it would have had us all!"  
"Shouldn't we have like, you know, HELPED him?" shouted Noh.  
"Do you think he had a chance?" replied Mu'kala.  
"Listen, we can..."  
"What was that?" whispered Ar'kadi.

It was a thumping sound. Like something massive was coming right for them. Something from where they were.

**"OH GOD, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" **screamed Mu'kala. As they were just starting to do so, the same Thanator burst out of the bushes. It went and hurled Las'kan and his horse against a tree with its mouth, smashing them with the force of a freight train. It kept coming at them. The others kept riding.

"What the fuck is wrong with that thing?" cried Shee'kana. "It's trying to kill us all!"  
"You think?" Jake screamed back. He ran close to Ar'kadi's and Alex's horse. He got something out of a leather bag that he carried on his horse. "Alex! Catch!"

Alex caught the large and heavy object. It was a GS 221 30-cal light machine gun. Contained a full hundred round clip. "Turn around and shoot that thing!" Jake screamed.

Easier said than done. The actual weight of the gun was mitigated a little by Alex's exo-suit, but trying to turn around on a galloping horse and shooting a huge monster was something else. He sprayed bullets everywhere. He nearly shot the other riders, who did their best to keep out of the way. The Thanator was still coming at them. Like some demon made out of shadow.

"Shit, why didn't I think of it before?" Noh said suddenly. He had grabbed what looked like two rocks off of his armor. At least they looked like rocks in the dark. Until Alex saw him pull a pin out of one of them and throw it behind.

The grenade hit the ground where the Thanator ran over it. It blew up in the distance. "Fuck..." cursed Noh, who pulled the pin on the other. Instead of just throwing it away, he held it for a moment longer and then he dropped it.

This time, the High Explosive Fragmentary grenade exploded right underneath the beast. The blast took off two legs, and left gory wounds all over the monster. It howled, and faded into the dark.

"Fuck yeah!" Noh cried exuberantly. The other horses started to slow down a bit, catching their breath.

"Come on..." Jake whispered "It's not far to go now." It's just over there..." He pointed forward. Hells Gate was lit up. A haven of light in a sea of darkness. The guards must have surely heard the gunshots and explosions. "How do we get inside without getting shot by the automated turrets?"  
"I still got some green flares with me." Noh replied, patting his tactical vest. "If I pop one, the turrets and the guards will know we're friendlies, and let us in."  
"Okay then... good enough. Let's move quiet- Sha'han! What the hell are you doing!"

Sha'han was a little apart from the group. He was looking intently to where they came from. "I thought I heard something in there..." Then his eyes turned to saucers of horror. "OH GOD, RUN-"

The same Thanator burst out of the bush and landed on Sha'han, who gave a short scream before his lungs were crushed. The beast proceeded to downright tear the poor bastard and his horse apart. It looked hideous. It was covered in wounds from the grenade blast and two of its six legs were stumps. The quills on its head were quivering madly. And they all swore later on that it had bright, blood red eyes.

The others started to make the final couple of hundred metres to the human base. They were going flat out, with Alex shooting at the thing with the machine gun. He was actually hitting the damn thing now and was making actual wounds that seeped blood, but it wasn't doing a damn thing! It still went after them!

"Jesus Christ! What the hell does it take to kill that thing!" screamed Alex.

Hells Gate was in sight. The great walls that separated the human area from the rest of Pandora, was huge, they could make out sentries posted on it, watching them, and moving. Alex was too busy trying to shoot at the Thanator to see it.

"Noh pop the fucking flares NOW!" screamed Jake.

Alex was still shooting.

"Alex watch the branches!" cried Ar'kadi, who ducked down.

Alex turned around. "What-"

**-CRACK-**

* * *

_2 minutes ago._

Mac was on the wall, watching the surrounding landscape. He could barely see anything. Once he could make out the distant shapes of animals and birds, even at night, but the entire glow from the previous nights were gone. Now the forest seemed... different. Not inherently threatening, but different. The place didn't feel right.

In the old days, the wall was just a great big barrier to keep the animals from coming in and destroying everything. Now, after the new colonists came in, they had installed a new walkway, just behind the razor wire, that ran right around the entire perimeter, affectionately known as 'The Battlements'. Patrols would make their rounds on them, keeping watch over the entire area.

Mac sighed. Out there, in the jungle, was a whole new world, where dragons flew, trees grew as high as buildings and people lived. Sure, all of the fauna would try to kill them with they saw them, but at the same time, the Na'vi live just fine, in this beautiful but deadly world. That didn't stop his temptation to go out beyond the wall. To walk in the world that all of the kids in the colony ask about. Sometimes the colony felt like a prison to him.

"So what do you think those Na'vi girls are like in bed?" asked an RDA soldier, walking by.

_Aw, for fucks sake, not this topic again_

Sometimes the mercs would ask that to each other, like it was the Meaning of Life. The Militia on the other hand started to get really sick of hearing it.

"I don't know, and I don't care." Mac responded, annoyed by the derailment of his train of thought.  
"Oh c'mon dude!" the other smiled behind his exo-mask. "You got to admit, they might be from the stone age, but they got the goods!"  
"You really wouldn't want to try screwing one of them man..."  
"Why not? You gay or something?"  
"Two reasons. One: Those girls would probably crack your pelvis in two. And second, your pathetic little dick couldn't fit in one of-"

There was a long burst of gunfire, coming from the forest in front of them.

"What the fuck?" muttered the RDA man.

Mac's radio earpiece buzzed.  
"_Two-one, we're hearing gunshots in your sector. Did you shoot anything, over?"  
_"Negative Overlord. It came from the forest. I repeat. The gunshots came from inside the forest, over."

A small explosion thumped.

"And a grenade. I heard a grenade go off. I think there's something in there Overlord."

There was more gunfire, then another thump.

"Another grenade went off Overlord, please advise."  
"_Uh, roger that Two-one. Do you see anything?"  
_"Negative." He checked his image intensifier. "Got nothing on thermals. The bush is too thick."

There was silence for a long while. Then Mac swore to god he heard a short scream.

Then a machine gun burst opened up. It sounded a lot closer now.

"What the fuck is this shit man?" The merc shifted uncomfortably.

Something caught Mac's attention. He looked down to the right of the treeline. He saw a group of horsemen riding towards the gate.

"Check it out!" smirked Mac "Guess Tonight's the night you find out!" He fingered his earpiece. "Overlord, I see four riders, repeat, four riders, going at full steam, towards the gate."  
"_Copy that, auto-turrets are tracking them. Are they armed Two-one?"  
_"Unclear. They're-"

A bright green glow came from riders. Looking at them through his rifles scope, he could see a familiar figure, frantically waving a flare while sitting in front of big Na'vi.

"SHIT! Overlord! Private Noh is with them! Noh is alive and with them! Everyone cease fire! Cease Fire!"

* * *

Alex picked his face out of the dirt. Something had hit him in the head. It must have been one of those branches that Ar'kadi mentioned. He felt his helmet and was aware of the large crack running along it that he felt with his fingers. If he hadn't been wearing it, it would probably be his head that would be cracked open.

He got to his feet, taking a cautious look around. He saw the gate to the colony. It had opened by a crack, just by a fraction. He could see the Na'vi had stopped by what looked like a security detail.

Then he heard something, rustling off in the bushes. It was big. The blood in Alex's face drained.

_Oh fuck..._

He started to run. His exo-suit was giving him some extra power, but he wasn't sure he'd make it in time. He kept running.

He heard voices, talking at the gate.

"Alex, hurry the fuck up! It's coming!" Cried Noh's voice.

_Just keep running Alex. Run on the feet God gave you._

The group faces started to change. They were looking at something, something that scared both the Na'vi and the humans shitless. The humans raised their weapons at his direction. Alex kept running.

_Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck..._

Voices started to panic.

"Close the gate! We can't let it inside!"

"NO! He can make it!"

"I can't get a clear shot, he's in the way!"

"Give him a chance! _Give him a chance!_"

Alex kept sprinting. He heard the monster behind him come towards him.

_OH FUCK OH FUCK OH FUCK..._ his mind screamed.

**"Alex!"** shouted a much older voice. **"Drop to the fucking ground NOW!"**

Alex dove to the ground, pissing his pants and cursing God for not giving him faster legs.

* * *

Armageddon.

All of the guns on the ground, plus the men on the battlements, not to mention the automated defense towers, opened fire on the Thanator. The militia and RDA soldiers opened up with everything from SCAR and CARB rifles, to incendiary grenade launchers. The real damage was done by the Auto turrets. Armed with magnetic gauss rifle tech, the 20 mm lead ball bearings slammed into the beast with huge force. Explosions from the grenade launcher rocked the land around it. The Thanator was literally torn apart in a volcano of fire, blood and gore.

When the gunfire finally stopped, nothing remained of the beast. Just a charred, bloody crater.

Alex slowly got to his feet. He looked at the others gathered silently at the gate, then at where the beast was. Then he looked at his soiled pants, turned to the silent group and said:

"I think I need to change my pants."

Not exactly a snappy catchphrase, but it summed both the human and the Na'vi feelings.


	5. Chapter 5: Diplomacy

Diplomacy

Alex walked out of his bunkroom. The militia's communal barracks was sparse, but it had its fair share of creature comforts. The place was reminiscent of a prison block. It was a multi-story area that went up by about 3 stories. Walkways ran right around the place, which led to various bunk rooms, each containing four beds, a desk, four footlockers, and a toilet. Militia men furnished their rooms to their liking however, with whatever they could fit through the door. The main hall on the other hand was much more interesting. It was directly connected to the Rec-Centre of the colony. Here, both the colonists and the militia slouched off the rigours of the day, bitching about their superiors, sharing stories, playing a wide variety of games (both conventional and electronic) writing home, and just generally relaxing. It had various couches and T.V.s, holo-projectors, a bar, pool tables, some gym equipment and various other stuff used to kill time. The place was also directly connected to the communal Mess. Here, both the colonists, militia and RDA personnel ate whatever Hell's kitchen could cook up. Originally the place could only serve imported human rations, but the gene modding that all of the colonists undertook allowed them to eat the local flora and fauna. Most people agreed it tasted better than the stuff laced with pesticides, chemicals, artificial colouring and what-not. The RDA personnel had to make do with their own cooked up rations. The room also doubled up the assembly hall. It was here that Alex was headed.

Alex adjusted his exosuit again. He was starting to seriously appreciate the use of it. The original technology had been designed in the early 21st century, but power issues have always been a problem for them. With recent advances in unobtainium enhanced power cells and generators, this was no longer an issue. The suit was taken out of the archives room and produced once more to give colonists the ability to survive in the much bigger Pandoran environment. The fact that the colonists could now carry crates of heavy construction materials, as well as cover huge distances faster than normal, not to mention wielding big-ass guns, was a real morale booster. The AMP suits that went around were descendants of the same stuff. There was even talk of it giving the wearer the ability to engage Na'vi in hand-to-hand combat on equal terms, though no-one had ever tried it. Few RDA mercs wore them; they thought they were just some big clunky metal frame that made you look like you had polio.

He walked up to the door leading to the mess. Quite a few people had gathered in front of it, hoping to catch a glance at the new visitors. Almost none of the colonists had actually seen a real life Na'vi before, so they were understandably curious as to what was going on behind the closed doors. The colonists, plus a couple of militiamen who had some time off, allowed Alex to pass by. He walked up to the door that was guarded by to RDA mercs.

"Back off." snapped one. "No one without clearance is allowed inside."  
"Let him in." the other one said a little more coolly. "It's the guy who pissed himself back at the gate."

Alex gritted his teeth and entered the Mess hall. The place looked somewhat different than what he'd normally come to expect. This time most of the tables were squared away, leaving only two big ones that served as the main negotiation table. This was of course, were 'diplomatic relations' were being fostered. To the left of the table were Jake and his Na'vi tribesmen. They were either sitting on the table itself or standing around waiting; the chairs were way too small. Jake appeared to be pretty calm so far. He was sitting on large crate Major Halverson had provided. The Major in question was sitting at the left hand side on the right side of the table, reading his data pad, brushing up on his Na'vi.

"Nice to see someone managed to change his uniform." a familiar snarky voice said to Alex's side.  
Alex looked to see Noh standing there, still wearing his dirty fatigues and exo-suit. Unlike Alex, the Major hadn't ordered Noh to get changed.  
"Did I miss anything?" Alex asked.  
"Oh nothing important. We've only just called for the Na'vi's immediate extermination."  
"Ha, Ha, Ha."  
"Seriously man, we're just waiting for the Director and Colonel Carson to come, they'll be here any minute."

There were a few other militiamen and mercenaries in the room. They stuck to the wall, watching the Na'vi. The Merc's had seen them before, but the militia were pretty impressed that they got to see Na'vi in person. Before now, most of the militia and the colonists had only seen Na'vi in old videos and logs. The door behind Alex opened to let a few of the science team inside, led by a small middle aged white coated man, who looked like he should be lecturing rather than doing field work.

The double doors at the other end of the hall opened, and in walked Director Selfridge, Colonel Carson, a translator and a bunch of RDA mercs.

Selfridge walked up to the table with his translator. He was dressed reasonably enough for a man who had just got out of bed. He hadn't changed much since he was last on Pandora, appearance wise. Personality wise however, he was even more of an asshole.

He spoke to his translator. "Tell him that we appreciate them coming here, and returning those two militia idiots, why we are here, offer them beads or whatever, you know the drill..."  
"It's good to see you again as well Parker." Jake snidely replied in perfect English. "I hope we can come to a compromise tonight."

Parker's eyes widened when he heard perfect English coming out of the Na'vi. More so when he realised who he was talking to.  
"J-Jake Sully!" he stammered, already taken off his game. "I-uh, didn't expect to see you here..."  
"Oh come on Parker, let's not play any games here." Jake sighed. "We really need to talk about this colony."  
Parker started to sweat buckets. Carson on the over hand face-palmed. Diplomacy had barely begun and already things were going to hell in a hand basket. The translator quietly started to translate for the other Na'vi at the table.

"All right then... what exactly do you wish to know about?"  
"We might as well start with the basics from your perspective. Why ARE you here?"  
"Well... We are beginning to start a new human colony on Pandora to mine Unobtainium."  
"Where oh where have I heard that before?"  
"There ARE in fact some differences between this one and the last one." Selfridge countered defensively. "The people who are going to live here are not going to be RDA. There're just civilians. You might have noticed that the soldiers around here are..."  
"They're divided into colonial militia and RDA mercenaries, I know." Jake interrupted. "Those two militiamen told me all about it. They were most enlightening."

Carson flashed a murderous look at both Alex and another one at Major Halverson. "It would be nice if your men didn't crack at interrogation Major."  
Halverson shrugged indifferently. "Doesn't matter. At least they're back alive." He turned back to Jake and said a little more seriously, "I also noticed that my men had some blood on them. Nothing terrible happened to them in your custody am I right?"  
"Nothing that bad happened to them. It's true that my friend Mu'kala smashed Alex's head in when he tried to escape, but nothing too bad. "  
Halverson turned to the Rec-centre doors. "Garnett, Noh, get your asses over here." He called, signalling them over.  
When the two humans trotted over, he said "Tell us about your big adventure. Don't skimp the details."

Alex and Noh told them everything. They told them about their ride on the banshees, their failed escape, their meeting with Jake, their confinement at the Hometree, and the journey back to Hells Gate. The Journey was made especially exciting, with the account of the strange dark and the sudden incapacitation of the journey. Then they told them about their nightmarish escape from the Thanator.

"...And then I must have got knocked down from the trees. I got my ass up, ran to the gate, and well, you know the details." Alex finished.

The two parties at the table regarded their story with a mix of feelings. Parker and Carson were quick to cry foul play when they heard about Alex's punishment for his escape attempt. Jake defended the actions of Mu'kala saying that Alex was attempting to escape 'custody' and that he'd probably get the same treatment if he was escaping from the RDA. Halverson had looked at Alex with a dry smile when Noh told them about Alex standing up to Jake and delivering an impromptu speech.  
"Good to see that someone's got some balls, kid."  
They reacted with interest about what happened in the forest journey, they were curious as to hear their account of what happened. Noh spoke with great appreciation about how Alex probably saved all of their lives, by waking them up before the Thanator appeared. The science team were particularly interested.  
"You didn't see anything else of interest when it happened?" asked the leader of the science team; a timid man known as Stan Carnegie. "Nobody here went into any coma or anything."  
Alex thought about those Dark Lands that he journeyed into. He remembered the sounds, the sights and the Shadow.  
"No sir." He said resolutely. "That's all that happened." He and Noh finished their report with their thrilling escape from the Thanator.

Carson straightened up when Alex finished. "Well then... I would like to talk to both of you later, preferably-"  
An RDA officer walked over and respectfully coughed.  
"What is it, Manderly?"  
"Sir, just like to report that the lights are back."  
"What do you mean?"  
"The glowing lights on all of the plants and animals is back." He looked at the Na'vi. "As a matter of fact _they're_ glowing again too sir."  
The glowing bioluminescence on Jake and his Na'vi compatriots was back again, none of them had noticed before. They gave a relieved sigh.

"Uh, very good then. Keep us informed." He turned back to Jake. "It's admirable that our men are back safe and sound. We can arrange to have a Samson take you and your friends back to wherever you-".  
"We're not finished Colonel." Jake interrupted. "You haven't heard my demands yet."

Selfridges guffawed. "_Demands?_ Oh man, Jake you must be crazy or something..."  
"Don't take that tone with me Parker."  
"It's Director Selfridge to you." The corporate said a little more brusquely.  
"Whatever you say Parker. Now, we-"  
"Oh what are you going to do to us if we don't go along with these 'demands'!" Glittered the Director with frantic mock subservience. "Are you going to write a letter to the U.N? Or to Greenpeace? I hear they haven't had much to do since the whales died!"

Jake gave a tired sigh. "Some people don't learn the first time..." he muttered in Na'vi. "No, none of that." He opened up again in English. "You go with our demands, or we come to this colony and kill you all."

There was silence.

Carson dared to speak first. "I'd like to see you try mate."  
Jake shrugged indifferently. "You should know that there's a lot of Na'vi who don't hold humans in high regard." He opened up. "'Negotiating' with them will be a little more difficult because I've told them all of your tricks. They know better than to sell land. I am the chieftain of one of the most respected tribes on Pandora. I've made agreements with all of the other tribes to get ready if your kind comes back..."  
"'Your kind'?" Carson queried with doubt. "I think you've spent a little too much time with the natives Sully..."  
Jake ignored that comment. "And more importantly, only half of your men have any real experience. The other half are just trainee colonists. Are you sure that they will be able to defend the colony if we attack in force?"

There was silence.

"Alright then Jake... just for the record, what are your terms?" Parker moodily muttered.  
Jake straightened himself up.  
"First: you reprogram your defense turrets to not fire upon mountain Banshees." He opened up. "If I need to come back here to talk to you, I want to get here without having my head blown off."  
"Right, and what happens if you come here to kill us all on Banshees?" said Carson.  
"If that happens then you'll probably know to switch them back." Jake retorted. "I'd probably come with a lot of banshees."

"Second: You keep your Unobtainium mining to your old mines. No taking of any other places."  
"Unacceptable Jake." Parker. "There's still plenty of ore at ESM-1, true, but if we don't branch out, we're not going to get much in the way of profit."  
"Does it look like I give a flying fuck about profits?"  
"Can't we at least mine where the old Hometree used to be?" Parker suggested. "You guys aren't using it right?"

Silence.

"Okay, you know what? I'll just forget about it..."  
"You do that."

"Thirdly: I notice that you're starting up a lumber operation."  
"And?"  
"So, you are going to stick to a plantation. You can grow, and then cut down trees within the plantation, but your crews stay in the plantation. You understand?"  
Parker sighed. "Yeah... we can do that."

"And finally: You fully respect the wishes of my people. If I hear anything about mercs shooting them I'll get angry. Your science team still can go where they will, with a few guards, but everyone else stays home.  
"Is that all?"  
"That's all."

Parker stretched. "Well then I will do the best to be accommodating for your demands." He got up. "Will you be needing a ride home?"

"No. We came here on horses, we leave on horses. We will however, request to stay here for the night."  
"That's... acceptable." Concurred Carson. "Halverson, do we have anywhere where they can bed down for the night?"

"Well, we did have a nice wooden longhouse in the old days." He said friendly enough. "But after about six years of no one living in it, and the Avatar program being discontinued, we demolished it to make room for a bigger science facility. But I'm sure the science team has some decent accommodation suited for you and your friends sizes." He turned to the leader of the science team. "Am I right Mr. Carnegie?"

"Oh yes." The scientist smiled. "We have made a few guest rooms in case your kind ever showed up." He got up. "If I may lead them there sir?"  
"Go ahead then. I hope you have a decent night here Mr. Sully."

The visitors and scientists left the hall. Alex, Noh and Halverson were about to leave when Carson spoke up in a rather cold fashion.

"Before you gentleman leave, we need to talk about the grade-A fuck up that your men just handed us."  
"What? With all due respect sir, my men have performed to my expectations!"  
"By handing negotiations for us before it even began?" he snapped. "By telling them about the workings of this colony, these two gentlemen have just handed our asses to the Na'vi savages!"  
"Now wait just a fucking minute..."  
**"Watch your fucking tone soldier!"** he shouted. He sprang to his feet.

"That... traitor, knew of how the defence force was divided into two, who was in charge, how the defence's were organized, why we were here, how many people there are! The only possible explanation for that intel leak, was that someone told them... someone who was perhaps, a little too matey with the Na'vi... someone like your two stooges here!" He was pacing back and forth like a madman. "I thought we told all of you fucking shit-for-brains militia that you **do not talk to the fucking Na'vi, unless absolutely fucking necessary!**"

Director Selfridge nervously shifted his seat away from the raging volcano.

"Thanks to these thoughtless dumbasses, we just LOST diplo-fucking-matic negotiations! We had to sit through and probably have to do his fucking demands now! We might even lose the upper fucking hand **when** conflict arises!"  
He stomped up right to the two standing militiamen. He lowered his tone to simmering. "I think that some pay should be docked... maybe this colony doesn't NEED these two shitheads..." He marched out of the room.

The director let out his breath. He got up, gave a half hearted, "Thank you for your time" and left.

"Major?" Alex asked a little worried. "Is he going to really send us back?"  
"Naw..." the big man flicked off the suggestion. "He's just in his pissed mood. He knows that we don't have enough trained people to lay off anyone. And he's too busy with construction of Citadel outpost." He picked up his data pad and started to go over it again. "To be frank, you guys did pretty good out there."  
"Thank you sir."  
"In fact...I think that a little reward is in order..."

* * *

The scientists and the Na'vi started to walk out of the mess.  
"Pardon the intrusion Mr. Sully..." began Carnegie. "But I was wondering if a colleague of mine is still out there in Pandora..."  
"The guys who chose to stay behind are still around." Jake said to him. "Just so you know, they had to transfer their spirits to their Avatar bodies, okay?"  
"Really? That's... intriguing... If you have any questions, just say so." He was in thought for a moment. "I'm sure you and I have a lot to discuss..."  
"I saw some strange looking Ay-Em-Pee's walking around." Ar'kadi said, quite suddenly. "They didn't have any arms."  
An expression of surprise went onto Stan's face. "I, uh... that's correct! Some of the new uh, AMP's are exclusively for defence, more reminiscent of mechs of old." He said in his best Na'vi. He turned to Jake, "He's got a head on his shoulders..."  
"You don't say... He's always had an interest in tech. Ar'kadi's spent a lot of time with Norm..."

"Norman Spellman! I know that boy! Taught him about this planet!"  
"Really? Then I'm sure you and Ar'kadi will get along just fine..."  
"My word, there is so much that I would want to talk about with you!" Stan beamed "But we really all need to get some sleep.

They kept walking. They passed outside and walked over to the science compound.  
"Chieftain?" asked Mu'kala in Na'vi.  
"Yes?"  
"Is there something bothering you?"  
Jake didn't say anything for a full minute. "It's that Palalukan..." he said quietly "It wasn't acting right..."  
"How so?"  
"If a predator catches its prey, it usually just stops chasing the herd and eats the animal it caught." Jake looked back to Mu'kala. "That one on the other hand, kept going after us. Even after it killed Kal'el. Like it deliberately wanted, not to eat us, but to kill us all." He looked a little shaken of all things. "Animals aren't like that. Something was _very_ wrong with that...monster..."

* * *

Alex and Noh walked out of the mess with fuzzy feelings. Getting bragging rights and a small bonus was one thing, getting promoted to Corporal at the same time, could make someone a very happy man.

"Hey Alex?" Noh asked uncertainly.  
"Yeah?"  
"I noticed we didn't tell them about Miri."  
He was referring to Jakes daughter.  
"Didn't think it mattered." Alex replied casually. "You must not have thought so either when the time came to speak right?"  
"I guess... Wonder what would have happened if we did?"  
"We'd probably make things a little bit more tense. Jake would probably want to rip our spines out."

"Yeah... I guess...She was a nice little girl."  
"Yeah... she kinda reminds me... Oh never mind..."  
They continued walking back to their bunkrooms.

"She reminds you of your little sister doesn't she?" Noh asked knowingly. Alex gave out a sad sigh.  
"That's none of your business Noh."  
Noh brofisted Alex's arm reassuringly. "Don't dwell on it dude. Now come on, I just want to get to sleep. I'm too tired to brag about our adventure or do anything else."


	6. Chapter 6: Log 1

Dear Diary...

"So how did the actual meeting with the Sky-People go?" asked Neytiri.  
"Better than I feared. Worse than I had hoped."

When he and the three other surviving hunters came back to the Hometree, Jake told everyone about what had happened in their trip to Hells Gate. The loss of three of the six Na'vi who went along with them was keenly felt throughout the tribe. One of the first questions asked by the ordinary people of the tribe was whether or not the Sky-People were the cause of death, to which Jake and the other hunters strongly denied. All of the Na'vi knew about the lights in the forest being turned off however. When it had happened, a lot of them had become amazingly tense, frightened and scared. Even the bravest of warriors lit fires and huddled around whatever lights they could make. People were scared. Norm said that he'd never seen anything like it. Then just like that, the lights came back. As if nothing had happened. Everyone said that it was the most frightening thing to ever happen in their lives.

At least the tribe had recovered from it. That afternoon, Neytiri and her daughter Miri had returned. Everyone had started to ask Jake on what had actually happened.

He opened up by saying that the Sky-People had agreed to bow to their requests. That he had made a few unexpected friends in the colony and that the deaths of the three hunters were not the Humans fault. People were generally satisfied with what had happened.

He turned to his wingman. "Mu'kala, you and Shee'kana and Ar'kadi can answer any questions that the others have. I need to talk with some of the others."

He journeyed up the titanic Hometree and entered his quarters. Soon, Norm, Neytiri and Mo'at, as well as a few Avatar scientists joined him. They talked about the current state of affairs.

"So are you sure that we can trust these Sky-People, Chieftain?" asked Mo'at.  
"We can trust Halverson and the militia. Selfridge, Carson and the RDA can't be trusted." Jake said firmly. "I suggest that we talk to the colony through the militia, rather than through any 'official' way that they want to set up with us."

He turned to Norm and the other Avatar scientists. "You know a Stan Carnegie?"

Norm's face gave the expression of surprise. "I, uh, Yeah! He taught some stuff back in college."  
"Good, cause he's here." Jake gave a small warm smile. "You are going to be talking to him about this world."  
"Jeez... Can't believe HE of all people is here."  
"Don't forget to ask him about the colony."  
"What?"  
"Try to find out what you can about the colony, why is it here, what kind of people live there." He shrugged. "It would be nice to have an eye on the inside."  
"Oh... uh... yeah, I can do that I guess..."

"Do you think the Sky-People are going to keep their end of the bargain?" asked Neytiri with a cocked eye.  
"No. I don't. That's why we got to be ready for anything."

There wasn't much else to discuss that evening. They finished by talking about how the tribe was faring, before heading off to sleep. Then, only Jake and Neytiri were left.

"How is Miri Neytiri?" asked Jake.

Neytiri looked concerned. "Well..."

"Did something happen?" Jake asked afraid. His heart started to skip a beat.

"No, don't worry, Miri's fine... She's just playing with her friends." She said reassuringly. "But something... strange happened at the Tree of Voices..."  
"What happened?"

"When she melded with the tree, when she first joined, all was fine. But then the lights went out." Her voice was scared, frightened. "Then she... she just went asleep. Just like when you were still an dream-walker..."

"Oh god, is she still okay?" cried Jake gripping Neytiri's arms.

"She... as soon as it happened, the lights went out. We were scared Jake, we tried everything to wake her. We even just took her whip away from the tree easily, but nothing happened." She took a deep breath. "She was asleep like that... for minutes. Then... just like that, she woke up. She was crying. She was frightened..."  
Mother said that she felt something strange happen in the Tree. The voices were stilled. The Tree didn't feel right anymore. It was dark... so dark. Then the lights on the Tree returned. We didn't move from it until the other lights came back..."

"And then?"

"And that was it. Nothing else. We checked Miri over and over, from top to bottom, but she was fine, just frightened." She looked back up to Jake. "But she's alright now. Hesh'ka said she was fine. She took great care in her..."  
"Where is she now?"  
"She's playing with her friends, like I said. Hesh'ka went back to her people. She said she needed to see if they were fine."  
"Okay then. Go and check on her, I'll be down soon."  
"Okay Jake... see you soon." She started climbing down the tree.

Jake was still standing there. He was thinking about the Dark Lands.

_Funny I didn't tell anyone about it._

When he had awoken in that grey land, he was confused, frightened. He saw strange things, heard strange sounds. But the most vivid thing about the place that he could remember was the Shadow Man. There was figure there, he was pretty sure that he was Human, but he was almost as big as himself. Jake wasn't able to make out any real details about him, he was too dark, like he was made out of shadow. Jake had called out to it, asking it who it was. Then it just attacked him.

It had been so sudden. The Shadow man just started to smash him onto the ground and started to pound his face into the dirt. He was strong, obscenely so. Jake could barely move or fight back. He thought it was going to kill him right there. Then he was woken up by Alex. The dream was so vivid; he nearly launched himself at the human right there.

He didn't understand anything that had happened. He wasn't that sure why he didn't tell anyone about it either.

He started to walk back down the tree.

"Using Norm, you own friend, to spy on the colony." An unmistakably human voice slithered in English. "That sounds like Quaritch."

Jake spun around. "Who said that?" he snapped.

There was no one there.

Jake could have sworn to Eywa that someone had said that right into his ear.

He shook his head and started climbing down again

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 1]  
[DATE: 3.2.2160]  
[AUTHOR: SGT GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
_Shows Alex fiddling with the camera. The filming is being done in his bunkroom. A window to the outside of Pandoran Colony can be seen. Alex is wearing casual clothing._  
[GARNETT:] "Uh... hello? Is this thing on?"  
[NOH: Offscreen] "Yeah, just talk to it bro, the red light's blinking."  
[GARNETT:] "Oh... okay then... Um... Well hi there. This is my first Video log. Bosses orders..."  
[NOH: Offscreen] "You mean old Hellboy's orders."  
[GARNETT:] "Bugger off Noh, Go make your own log... Right then... My name's Alex Garnett. I'm part of the Colonial Militia for the New Pandoran Colony, here at Hells Gate. My boss, Major Halverson, just promoted me and my friend Noh to the rank of Sergeant. Why that is the case is more to do with a little, uh, escapade me and my friend here went on..."  
[NOH: Offscreen] "You mean 'myself and my friend'."  
[GARNETT:] _To offscreen_ "What are you, a Grammar Nazi? Get lost."  
[NOH: Offscreen] "Fine..." _footsteps heard, door shuts behind._  
[GARNETT:] "Right, as I was saying... 'Myself and my friend' went on a little escapade. More to the point, we were kidnapped by Na'vi from the esteemed Omaticaya tribe. Man... we were just doing recon at one of the old mines the RDA used to have, when a couple of them flew in on those friggen flying lizards, and grabbed us from the group. It was horrible. Then we were flown to the tribe's home and met the leader. Damnit, I'm getting ahead of myself.  
Well, when we landed, Me and Noh tried to escape, but all that got us was a beating from our captors. Then we got taken to that tree. You would not fucking believe who we met. The chieftain of the tribe was the one and only Jake Sully. The same guy who practically took down the original RDA force. _Voice drips in sarcasm _Anyway, we had a nice conversation, where we learned much about each other's cultures. _Normal voice_ Well we stayed there overnight, and in the next day, he and a bunch of other guys came to take us back to the colony in one piece. Well, they tried to anyway... Something really horrible and weird happened on the way. Look, the details are in my official report, you wanna find out, go read the paper work.

Anyways... the real reason that I'm doing these video logs to begin with is 'cause our promotion was a lot more than ceremonial. Due to the fact that I and Noh actually came into contact with the Na'vi, Major Halverson has just made us the official liaison between the colony and the Na'vi. That kind of means I've just become a kind of diplomat. Whenever the Na'vi wants to talk to the colony, we have to go and translate and try to assist them in whatever the problem is. Our job is also to make sure that none of our own men cause any trouble. All in all, it means that if one of our boys has been shooting up some hunting party, or a colonist dumps toxic waste in tribe's water supply, or if a colonist gets an arrow in the chest, it's my job to make everyone calms the hell down and try to reason with them. It's the same deal with Noh.

Old Hellboy told us about it this morning. Just said that we weren't just Corporals now, we were full blown sergeants. He said he needed someone to keep things from getting too tense. He chose us because... well, you know, because we got to meet them. It's not all fun and games though. We got to attend extra classes with the science crew on Na'vi language and culture, not to mention NCO training. We're now on 24 hour standby, which means that if anything happens, we have to get our asses out of bed and to wherever the hell the problem is. On the plus side, we get all sorts of new perks. We get to place orders for the artificers at the manufacturing plant to make whatever we want, like new guns, toys and whatever. We get heaps of power in anything Na'vi related, which means that as long as something is Na'vi related, I can make anyone do whatever the hell I feel as necessary. Hell, even those RDA cowboys have to bow under me whenever I say so... as long as it's got something to do with the Na'vi. And of course, I get extra pay and privileges. From what I heard, neither the General, nor the Director was too fluffed about it, but Dr. Carnegie from the science team supported it. Said it would help prevent any collateral damage, or damage relations. Apparently, they had to remind them that making friends with the Na'vi was much more preferable than going into a long and costly war with them, not to mention getting the U.N off of their backs.

Well, anyway, the good doctor wanted me to make these video logs whenever something interesting happened. Said that it was to help record keeping, as well as to help summarize the day's events. Apparently, the great Jake Sully used to make them... huh...

Well, I guess that does about it for the night. I got to go place my order for that Automatic Shotgun that I've wanted for a while... I'll probably be making a new log as time goes by... Stan 'll probably give me advice on how to make these damn things. Good night then.  
_Gets up. Leans over the camera._  
Now where was the stop button? Oh, right..."  
[END RECORD]


	7. Chapter 7: A Day in the Life of

**A Day in the Life Of...**

[VIDEO LOG NO. 2]  
[DATE: 6.2.2160]  
[AUTHOR: SGT GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
_Shows Alex in standard multicam fatigues._  
[GARNETT:] "Okay... Hi, this is day two of my vid logs. Yes, I know this isn't the day after. I'm probably not going to do this every day... probably just every three or four days... maybe once a week.

Anyway, I just went to more classes on Na'vi language. It's HARD man... And I thought that learning Spanish was hard, this one's got fricken ejectives! Do you realise how hard it is to pronounce consonants like px, tx, kx? This language isn't even human! Jeez... I got to learn how to speak almost exactly like the natives...  
Well, on the bright side, at least I'm getting plenty of help from the science crew. They're pretty nice. Polite, among other things... I'm also learning more on the culture. There's heaps of stuff on this 'Eywa'... sorry, that's the mother goddess of the Na'vi. Oh, and I've been given a lesson on that neural linking that they all do, it's pretty interesting stuff actually.  
The day after I got back, the other guys have been on my ass as to what happened during my heroic adventure. Same with Noh. They've been asking things like: 'What are they like', and 'how big is the Hometree' and 'Is Jake really a total asshole?'. I'm trying to answer all of their questions as honestly as I can. I don't think it will do anyone good if we charge in to the field with false preconceptions. I tell them stuff like, how the Na'vi are kind of like us, and how Jake is still a person in the normal sense, and how aside from having my head smashed in at one point, I was treated reasonably well... Sure as hell don't want my boys charging in like some 21st century testosterone overcharged jarhead barbarians..."  
[END LOG]

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 3]  
[DATE: 10.2.2160]  
[AUTHOR: SGT GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT:] "Hey, me again. I just did some courses on how to be a Sergeant. Thank god it doesn't tell me on how to shout like some fucking drill instructor... It's kind of interesting, just stuff on basic leadership and stuff.  
One good thing that happened yesterday, was that my new gun just came in from the artificers. It's an AS-25 Assault Shotgun. Fully automatic, drum round clip, good reliability, capable of taking on different ammo types, barely any recoil... just the thing I need out here. Now we'll see who messes with me...  
Eh... I'm getting off track, nothing else happened much for a while. I heard from one of the engineers that they succeeded in reprogramming the turrets to not fire on Na'vi as much... You still hear them going off every time one of those shiva monkeys drifts a little too close to the base.  
I think I'm going to go and play some poker with the others now. Seeya."  
[END LOG]

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 4]  
[DATE: 15.2.2160]  
[AUTHOR: SGT GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT:] "Hey there mister diary, I think I need to talk to you about something that's on my mind.  
I'm starting to get a little worried about how much firepower the RDA's got around here. I mean, it's not just the fact that they are the ones in charge; it's that I think that they are getting way too much firepower...  
I mean, the main reason I'm starting to think this, along with some of the other guys and colonists, is that I heard that the artificer team at the manufacturing plant are making an AC-320 Gunship. Do you realise how much firepower that is? Those gunships aren't just some close support landing craft, they're fucking flying artillery platforms! One of those can annihilate a reasonably sized town all by itself. If the old Dragon gunships were meant to be some close support landing craft, that monster's a battleship... Can't believe they're making one of those...  
The RDA spokespeople says it's necessary for the security of the colony... More like it's for blowing up the place. Still making people a little disconcerted.  
Well, on a better note I've think I've actually made friends with one of the Mercs. _Slaps his hands on his face in mock horror._ I know, the shock and horror! _Relaxes_. Well, he's not quite a merc. He's one of the pilots. An Afrikaner called Wikus Bezuidenhout... I think that's how you pronounce it. Anyway, he's actually a real nice guy. He pilots one of those assault helicopters, the NH-75 Haast choppers. They're those ones with the canard-sash-rotor-wing system of flight. Anyway, we met while we were doing joint exercises. I was on his bird talking with the others, back from some manoeuvres at the mines, when some Texan jackass merc starts mouthing off on how we militia types are just toy boys. Dwight was about to throw that asshole right off the chopper. Hell, a fight was about to break out on the plane when Wikus came on the intercom and threatened to throw the RDA mercs off if they didn't shut up. Surprised us all.  
Afterwards I bought him some drinks at the bar as thanks. He's nice for a merc. Did mainly peacekeeping tours in Namibia before signing up for the adventure as an instructor. He says that teaching us how to fly is preferable to the mercs wondering how those Na'vi girls are in bed...  
[END LOG]

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 5]  
[DATE: 21.2.2160]  
[AUTHOR: SGT GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT:] "Hey, Just finished my NCO course today. Bit of a milestone really... some of the other sergeants bought me a drink or two. Aside from that nothing else really... Oh yeah, I should mention that we finally got the mines working again. The Unobtainium's rolling again... jeez, now I'm starting to wish that they figured out a better name for the stuff than friggen' unobtainium... One of the miners went to Noh and some of the other colonists, and they started to organise a poll or something to figure out a new shorthand name for the stuff. Some of the candidates include 'conductium', 'magnium' and 'hallelujahum'... still thinking on what to call it. End date's in three days. Noh's actually started to take refresher courses in AMP driving. Something tells me the whole colony is in for some awesome sauce now...  
One thing that has been giving me a little concern is that some of the colonists, just like three or five, not like a whole group, have been voicing some rather... bellicose thoughts... Some of them, especially that foreman at the mines, Rueben Netanyahu, have been going on about how it is the manifest destiny of Humanity to colonize all of the stars and planets. That all of the habitable worlds in the galaxy are theirs by divine right, and that any indigenous races like the Na'vi need to be civilised, pacified and if needs be, expunged in the face of the great progress of the Human Race.  
To be frank, I really hope that it's just a bunch of inflammatory rhetoric. If we get into any trouble with the Na'vi, I really do NOT want these heads up their assholes wading in. That would make my job ten million times harder. Thankfully most people think that these guys are a bunch of Harvard tightwads. One of the miners once told me that he's reasonably sure that Rueben's never set foot outside of his air conditioned mine office, aside from walking to the transport back to base. Means that they have little in the way of respect. Should make my job easier.

* * *

VIDEO LOG NO. 6]  
[DATE: 28.2.2160]  
[AUTHOR: SGT GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT:] We finally settled on a new name for Unobtainium: Magnium. It's short, it sounds like what it says, and it's catchy. We like it.  
To be frank, I might as well state what I actually do each day. There's not a lot to talk about right now. I get up at six, go for a morning run, come back, shower, then at seven-ish, I go for breakfast at Hell's Kitchen. Breakfast is a mix of human cereal, toast, pancakes, and fruit of both Human and Pandoran variety. I have some nice conversations with everyone, and then my schedule starts at eight. Depending on what day it is, I could be going to classes with other guys on the Pandoran wilderness and Na'vi society, I could be attending the training sessions with the other dudes, making up war games and doing training exercises, or I could be doing patrols.  
If that's the case, then the day becomes an epic battle versus the RDA in terms of supremacy. We practise with special training munitions. Special paint-tranquilizer bullets, shells, grenades and what not that can simulate the normal behaviour of the real deal. If you get hit by one, or splattered by the stuff, you lose feeling in your legs and freeze up. Great stuff. We always try to compete with the RDA. Right now our win-loss ratio is about, 1-4. We're hoping to raise it.  
If my day is classes, then I go to the science compound. There, we learn various subjects on Pandora, including the planet, the natives and the native language. It's pretty interesting stuff. I get tutored along with a bunch of other guys by the science team. The hardest part is learning Na'vi. We often have to help each other out with it. Thankfully the white coats say we're starting to speak it very fluently.  
And finally if my day is patrol, I go out with my team to patrol the compound walls, which is as boring as shit. We basically just walk around, and shoot anything that comes at us. Really, the auto-turrets do most of the job for us; all we have to do is keep an eye out for anything unusual. Sometimes my squad just patrols around the base. That's not so bad, we can talk to people at their jobs, get to know them... you know? Sometimes, if we're really lucky, we get to supervise the science team collect samples and do field work out in the wild. THATS cool.  
My shift usual ends at five, where I have a little bit of free time before dinner at six. Dinners a mix of imported food rations, or more interestingly, any Pandoran game that some mercs or scientists managed to shoot or catch. One time a couple of militia guys, along with a colonist in a mech got jumped by a thanator. It was a miracle that no one was killed, but they brought the body back and the great beast was sliced and carved for the colonists and the rest of the militia. The meat was so damn good. Very lean and healthy, aside from the scorch marks.  
After that, I can kick back and relax with my buddies in the rec room. Some of the guys have started up some awesome fragfests on the machines, and there's plenty of books and shit to keep us entertained.  
By the way, I should mention that we're split up into three different shifts, each getting an allotted time frame. I'm lucky as we got a relatively normal day shift. Time on Pandora is different than on Earth, you know what I mean?  
Anyway, I'm tired Mr. Diary..."  
[NOH:]_Offscreen_ "Mr. Diary?"  
[GARNETT:] _Defensively_ "Shut up! I've heard you call that gun of yours Jessie!"  
[NOH:] "How 'bout you confide your deepest secrets to Mrs Datapad then huh?"  
[END LOG]

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 7]  
[DATE: 8.3.2160]  
[AUTHOR: SGT GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT:] "Hey, construction of Citadel base is coming along nicely. In case you didn't know, it's a small airfield and outpost that the RDA mercs are making for themselves. I'm not sure what Jake is going to do once he finds out about it though. Still, haven't seen a Na'vi for ages, aside from the odd ex-human avatar scientist who comes in to chat with the science team for a few days before leaving again. Sometimes I get the feeling that they prefer being Na'vi to being human. After what the RDA mercs tried to do before, I can sort of see why they are ashamed of humanity. I have talked to one of them; Norm Spellman. He seems like a nice guy, but he tends to keep to the science team. Don't think he trusts anyone with a gun. Can't say I blame him.  
Anyway, the _Magellan_ comes back at the end of the month. It's come with basically some stuff we ordered as well as fresh meat and recruits. Let's see how-  
_Door is heard opening_  
[NOH:] "Hey Alex! Me and the other guys are having a fragfest on Halo 23! Wanna play?"  
[GARNETT:] "Count me in man!" _Back to camera_ "See you around."  
[END LOG:]


	8. Chapter 8: Arbiter

**The Investigator**

Alex sighted the target with his binoculars. The mercenary team in his view weren't paying enough attention to their surroundings. In particular, they didn't pay enough attention to the dour and grey prefab concrete buildings that dotted the area. They were more concerned about the militia APC that was dug in at a prefab garage about 50 metres east of their position. They were fairly certain that the enemy militia squadron had fortified itself nearby, maybe in one of the buildings.

What they didn't know, was that Alex's squad had hunkered down in a three story building, almost directly overlooking the enemy. There were eight in his team. They were backed up against the far wall, absolutely silent. Dressed in multicamo fatigues and armour, which was a sort of desert brown-tiger stripe pattern with green splotches, and wearing exo-suits, they watched from the window in front of them as the mercenary team; dressed in standard green jungle uniforms and exo-masks, took up positions to storm the building nearest to the APC. As if there were militia inside of them.

Dwight turned his head to Alex. The man was as huge and strong as a bear, gripping his LMG tightly, not letting the links on it jingle. He didn't dare speak, so he mouthed his request silently and slowly: Do we make our move now?  
Alex shook his head and pressed his finger to his mouth. We wait, he mouthed back.  
He watched as the mercenaries move silently to the building's entrance. He saw them take up positions to breach at the two entrances into the building. Alex keyed his radio.  
"Mac. Get ready." He whispered. He turned to the guy to his right; a nervous militia engineer clutching a small device in his hand.  
"Do it." Alex said with finality.  
The engineer, who also had the role of demo man in the squad, clicked the detonator in his hand.

As the mercenary team took up positions to breach, two of them prepared to place a breaching charge on their respective door. It was just a small bit of explosive, just enough to blast the door off of its hinges and stun and daze any one standing next door, who would be shot dead by the mercenaries as they stormed the building.  
At least that was the plan. Before the charge setters could get back, the door in question exploded forward in an almighty KROOM, throwing the door and the hapless mercenary back a few metres, and throwing some of the other deafened mercenaries on their asses.  
"GO!" yelled out Alex.  
The mercenaries were totally bewildered. They didn't get a chance to get their minds back into gear, because sniper fire started to take down some of the ones who were still standing up. Meanwhile the rest of the militia took up positions at the windows and opened fire. Dwight had deployed his machine gun, and let loose a torrent of bullets. The others blasted the mercenaries with everything they had, from SCAR rifles to Alex's automatic shotgun. The mercenaries were getting completely murdered. Only three of them had managed to get inside the building. The rest of the twelve-man team were cut down where they stood.  
"Sam! Gus! Mark! You're with me! The rest of you, keep us covered, we're going in!" shouted Alex as he went to the buildings staircase. The four man assault team raced down the stairs and out of the building as the remaining militiamen kept firing at the windows. Mac had managed to drop one of them in the head; the other two had slinked over to the APC.

The two mercenaries in question started to clamber into it.  
"That was a nice trick with the decoy..." one of them furiously cursed as he clambered into the driver's seat. "But they won't be smiling now! Get on the turret!"  
He looked through the driver's viewport. He started to grin maniacally as the militia fire team rushed towards them right in the open.  
"Those dumbasses are right in the open! Take those assholes out!" he screamed. His compatriot grinned and gripped the turret handles. There was a resounding click.  
That's all that happened.  
"Jackie, what the fuck, shoot them!"  
"This things not working! It isn't even loaded!"  
"FUCK, JACKIE! SHIT!"  
He gripped the wheel and hit the ignition switch.  
Again, nothing happened.  
The militia team reached the APC. One of them clambered on top of the steel cockroach, unhooking a grenade from his armour. Another one went right up to the drivers viewport and twiddled another grenade in front of it.  
"You guys want to come out the easy way, or the hard way?" he smiled.  
The two mercs gritted their teeth and flipped switches on their guns. "You win Garnett."  
A voice sounded on loudspeakers.  
"Blue RDA team has surrendered. Red Militia team have won."

* * *

Everyone started to relax. The mercenaries started to clamber out of the APC. Back where Alex came from, the other members of the militia squad strolled out of the building, laughing and talking. A couple of guys started to walk out from the training compound's walls. And all around himself, Alex could hear the groaning of the 'wounded' and 'killed' men.  
"Could somebody get me some of that paint stripper?" groaned a merc with half his body splattered in orange paint-tranq. "This stuff really hurts..." He was referring to both the simunition paint-tranquilizer rounds and the chemical that removed it, which was nicknamed 'paint stripper'. Several orderlies began to remove the stuff from the downed personnel.

The training compound in Hells Gate was nick named; 'The Murder Yard.' It was an enclosed area, more or so attached to Hells Gate, rather than being inside it. It was a square mile in size, bordered on side by the colony's wall, and on three sides by smaller, concrete wall. Scattered across the place were pre-fabricated buildings and scrub, which could be repositioned to make various training scenarios as suited. At the Yard's colony side, there was a large control tower built into the wall, where handlers and trainers would control and observe events. As well as this, they had plenty of cameras everywhere.  
"That wasn't a fair fight Garnett." The leader of the mercs grumbled.  
"Oh c'mon Manderly." Alex laughed. "We were split into even teams, twelve men versus 8 with an APC. That doesn't mean that we had to _use_ the thing..."  
"We could have been killed when those doors exploded forward!"  
"Those were just concussive bombs. We made sure that they didn't fragment the door." He turned to his squad. "Mac caught some primo footage of the breach though. Might as well-"  
"Sergeant Garnett!" A voice shouted out. Alex and the others turned. A colonist was running towards them. "Sergeant Garnett!"  
Alex beckoned him over. "Right here, what's the problem?"  
"There's trouble down at the mines sir! The foreman's requested your presence. You need to get there now."  
_Christ sakes, if Mr. Netanyahu's complaining about lack of presence there, I'll break his ass._  
"I'm a little busy here, can't Rueben get someone else?"  
"No sir, there's been trouble with the Na'vi. It's bad sir."

There was silence as the words sunk into everyone.  
"What sort of trouble?" Alex said with care.  
"There's been some sort of scrap between some of the miners and the Na'vi sir. There's been some injuries."  
"Fuck... where's Sgt Noh?"  
"He's too busy doing battlesuit training. It'll take ages for him to get ready."  
"Right then..." There was silence. Manderly took up the opportunity. "I'll get my boys ready-"  
"No, sir, I believe that this is my jurisdiction." Alex interrupted firmly.  
"I believe that I am the one charge _sarge_." Manderly snarled back. "I don't think that-"  
"I believe that I DO have the authority on these matters, by order of Major Halverson, I'm God if anything involving the Na'vi comes up. Even General Carson agreed to it."  
Manderly deflated behind his exo-mask. "Don't push it pal..." he moodily snuffed.  
Alex turned to the colonist. "Tell whoever you came from that I'll be there in a moment's notice. Do the air people know what's going on?"  
"Yes sir, They're already getting a bird ready for you."  
"Great, you can head back now."  
As the colonist ran back to Murder Yard's exit, Alex took a deep breath. He turned to the other militia men. They were silent, twiddling their thumbs and looking towards him. Dwight shifted his huge mass nervously.  
"Alright hustle up troopers!" Alex shouted "You've all heard that. There's been trouble with the Na'vi, so it's our job to make calm everything down. That doesn't mean things can't get out of control. Get your gear and weapons together and grab some real ammo. No paint-tranq shit. This is REAL people."

* * *

The chopper that Alex and his team were riding on wasn't one of the common Samson choppers. Instead, they were flying in one of the NH-75 Haast Assault Gunships. These didn't use the twin ducted fan system of flight like the SA-2 Samson. Instead, it utilized the 'Canard/Rotor Wing' system of flight. The aircraft looks similar to an old 20th century helicopter, but without a tail rotor, as well as two large canards near the nose of the craft. Rather than the engine spinning the main blades and another rear rotor set, the main blades are spun like a helicopter's rotor by directing the exhaust from a jet engine through thrust nozzles in the rotors wingtips. Because the rotor is driven directly by jet thrust, there is no need for a tail rotor to control torque as in a conventional helicopter. The real selling point for the system, is that the Haast is capable of jet flight. At the flip of a switch, the exhaust is redirected through an ordinary jet nozzle and the airfoil is held in a fixed position, acting like a wing, and turning the Haast into a slowish jet plane. The only weakness to the system is that it requires a pair of somewhat sizable canards placed near the front. The Haast itself was known as an 'assault gunship'. This means that while it could carry about as much people in its internal troop bay as the Samson, it was almost as heavily armed as a Scorpion Gunship, packing rocket pods and a large six barrel autocannon, giving it massive firepower when needed for aggressive insertion. The whole design was a distant descendant from the old Soviet 'Hind D' gunships common during the 20th century. There were differences in ascetics however, such as its slightly more angular cockpit canopy and shape. The one weakness of the Haast however, was that its large size means that only experienced pilots can effectively fly one. Despite this, those who can, say that it's like flying an APC in the sky. The manoeuvrability of a Samson, coupled with the firepower of a Scorpion.

The pilot to this particular plane was talking with Alex about the upcoming DZ. He was mercenary pilot, hired to train civilian and militia alike to fly, but unlike the others, he was friendly with the militia. He was an Afrikaner ex-peacekeeper called Wikus Bezuidenhout. His clean shaven face looking out from his pilot's helmet/exo-mask would turn around from his cockpit every now and then to talk with Alex in the troop bay. The Haast's gunner was keeping watch for any trouble up ahead.

"You know what you're doing bru?" he asked in his rather distinct accent. "I can provide support if everything goes to hell man..."  
"Hopefully it won't come to that." Answered Alex. "Just land this bird at the mines helipad after you drop us down by the entrance. If anything's wrong, me, or one of my boys will radio you."  
"Alright then man."  
Alex turned back to his squad sitting down and checking their gear in the troop bay. One could feel the nervousness in the air like static. Alex could see it in the clenched jaws, shaking legs and constant double checks of equipment.  
"Listen up people!" he shouted over the engines. "I want to make one thing clear to each and every one of you. Safeties ON. Nobody fires anything unless I give the word, understand? We're here to prevent anything bad from getting worse, not to start a new war with the Really Big Giant Smurf People, okay?"  
One of the militiamen asked a question. "What's the plan when we touch down?"  
"That depends. If everyone down at the mine is still okay, then we land. I'm going to try to get to the bottom of whatever the problem is."  
"How are you going to do that boss?" asked Dwight a little nervously. "Are you a detective or something?"  
"No Dwight, but I've done this sort of thing before. I just need you guys to stay with me in case things get out of hand." He paused. "That, and to not shoot anything unless I give the go-ahead. Do I make myself clear?"  
The troop compartment resounded with the classical "Yes sir."  
"That's great... and I thought I told you guys not to call me sir."  
"Whatever you say boss." Answered Mac.

The chopper/plane sailed through the skies for another 3 minutes before the mines came into view.  
"Okay guys, we're here." Shouted Wikus. "Switching to VTOL mode..."  
The chopper started to shudder for a minute as the rotor blades started to spin up like a roman candle. Soon the Haast had fully switched over to helicopter mode, moving towards the mines. The chopper proceeded to circle the site.  
From his vantage point Alex could see that the place had been fully restored. The old, rusted machines had been scrapped, and replaced with newer, equally monstrous ones. The great pits had only expanded by a bit; there was still a lot of ore to still be mined. The most notable thing about the place was that none of the great excavators were going at all. They seemed powered down, awaiting something perhaps.  
Wikus then pointed out the mining base and refinery. Miners and guards were still around, notably, what looked like a group of miners kicking a football around the yard. People seemed to be on some kind of break. A couple of people stopped to wave at the chopper.  
"Seems like everything's okay mate." Wikus shouted.  
"Seems so..." agreed Alex cautiously. "Drop us off over at the entrance to the compound. Then you can head to the helipad."  
"Will do. Hey Alex..."  
"Yeah?"  
"Good luck down there. I think you might need it."  
The chopper touched down at the entrance.

* * *

Alex briefly glanced back at the chopper thumping away again, then at his team mates. There were six of them, two having to stay put back at base due to equipment issues. They surveyed their surroundings with apprehension.  
_Probably just first mission jitters._ Thought Alex to himself. _They'll be okay... aww shit._ Alex started to curse himself for a fool. _Son of bitch... I forgot to swap out my pistol back at training. Ah don't worry... my shotty's still good._  
Several base guards, a mix of militia and mercenary, started to jog out to greet them.  
"Sergeant Garnett, good to see you." shouted an amiable RDA trooper. "The foreman's down this way."  
"Give me a sitrep, what actually just happened?"  
"You'd have to ask the foreman, I was over on the over side of the mines when it happened."  
"Anyone hurt?"  
"A few guys got an arrow each. They're okay though, they're stabilized now. Oh, and one of the miners got a broken arm."  
"Ah shit... thanks anyway."  
Alex and his team were being led through the yard where a couple of miners were kicking around a football.  
"Seems like things are pretty quiet right now." Said one of the team.  
"The foreman's just declared a cease in all activity for now." The merc replied informatively. "Right now we're just trying to kill some time for now. This way."  
Alex ordered half his squad to stay outside while Alex and the other half entered the administrative block of the compound. They started to pass several cubicles and work stations, where office workers were doing what they do best: procrastinate. He went through several cold and sterile corridors before they reached a door at the end. The mercenary opened it slightly, poking his head through the door.  
"Sir," he said politely."The liaison's here."  
"What?" sputtered a frustrated voice from the other side. "Goddammit..."  
An angry red face got opened up the door. The foreman, who went by the name of Rueben Netanyahu, was slightly shorter than most people around the colony and most people knew that he lived up to it by being a pain in the ass to work with. With bald head and the apparent absence of a neck, he certainly fit the bill for a bastard boss.  
He eyed the people assembled before him. His eyes narrowed down when he came to Alex.  
"How the hell did you get here?" he demanded.  
Alex kept his calm. "I was under the impression that you called me here."  
"I did no such thing!"  
"Then who did?"  
Rueben thundered out of his office and shouted to the rest of the office workers: "I thought I told you dumb assholes that I didn't want any damn liaison! Which one of you assholes made the call? In MY name I'll add?"  
No one said a word. The other workers looked at each other, hoping that someone would answer. No one did.  
"Dammit, if one of you had..."  
"Now wait just a minute here!" interrupted Alex. "Are you saying that you gave an order saying that I shouldn't be called?"  
"What? No, I..."  
"You what?" he snapped, losing his cool.  
"It was just some small issue with some alien upstarts. It was nothing serious..."  
"Nothing serious? Are you calling several miners injured by Na'vi 'nothing serious'?"  
"Goddammit man, it was nothing worth calling one of you for! The whole situation is under control..."  
Alex started to transition from assertive, to aggressive. "I'LL say when it's under control. It's my job to deal with anything related to the Na'vi."  
"Says who?"  
"Says the Major!" Alex snapped "So just shut up, answer my questions and I'll be out of your hair, okay?"  
Rueben backed down. He looked a little pushed down to cause any more problems.  
"Fine." He said with considerable ice. "Come inside my office."

* * *

Rueben's office looked little different from all the other executive offices that Alex had been in. The walls were the usual steel grey of any other colony constructions. They were adorned with various decorations, college degrees, and potted plants. There was a reasonably sized desk in the middle, covered in paperwork and a desktop computer, as well as what looked like the bust of some late 21st century academic big wig sitting on a cabinet.

The way Alex saw it, Rueben was a Grade D Company Man. This means that he had already surrendered a part of his soul to the company in exchange for some time shares. This made him exponentially more dangerous than a Grade E Company Man, (Human accepting his fate) and Grade F (Normal human being screaming to be free of his bureaucratic bounds), but thankfully much less dangerous than Grades A through to C. C being a person with only vestigial humanity putting company interests before people, (like Parker Selfridge) and B being a corporate yuppie with no intrinsic values aside from making profits, his own personal grooming and which brands he uses... Like the guy from the novel 'American Psycho'. Nobody has ever seen a Grade A Company Man, for the same reasons that nobody reports their own successful assassination. These types couldn't be considered people at all. Rather, they are soulless avatars of the Company. Those who would easily press The Big Red Button or sign off torture, simply because it did the company good. Thankfully though, most people think of them as being nothing more than an urban legend. But who wants to find out for sure?

_Okay, think back to the old days._ Alex thought as he sat down in one of the chairs facing the desk. He started to drift inside his mind. _Remember the times you settled domestic violence disputes, or dealt with noise complaints, and collected people's testimonies? Think back to those days.  
_"So... what is it that you wish to know Mr Garnett?" asked Reuben apprehensively.  
_So, he addresses me as 'Mr' rather than Sergeant. That not good...  
_"It's Sergeant Garnett 'Sir'... and I might as well start with asking you what exactly happened here."  
"Fine then. About an hour and a half ago some of those Na'vi savages came and attacked some of our miners. The End."  
"In a little more detail please. Where did it happen?"  
"There was some kind of trouble down over at the perimeter. The savages started to attack one of our dozers which was trying to clear some dead tree and scrub that we've been meaning to get rid of for some time now. The dozer had come to a rest when all of a sudden those blue skinned savages started to come out of the woodwork and tried to kill us."  
"Hold on one second sir, why did the dozer stop to begin with?"  
"Some equipment malfunction, I don't know... I'm not a damn mechanic. They were trying to fix it when suddenly they attacked. Some of the guards fired back and drove them off."  
"Any casualties?"  
"A few of the mercs got wounded, I understand that they are in the infirmary now... that's it."  
"What about the Na'vi?"  
"What about them?"  
"Were there any casualties on their side?" Alex responded loudly.  
"Fuck, I don't know! Nobody found any bodies... The guards brought in the wounded... and that was that, no casualties, no paperwork." Rueben started to type on his computer again. "Is there anything else you want to know?" he said with a tinge of sneering.  
"Maybe... That will be all for now." Alex started to get up and leave.  
"Perhaps this issue would not have happened had you militia types done your job guarding us and taken a harder stance with the alien savages." Rueben grumbled. "Frankly if we put the hammer down on them-"  
"Then we wouldn't have to contend with the alien savage, and that humanity would power on into the stars, and that the great chain will pull us to enlightenment, while the aliens would be left behind in the dirt, yes, I think you told everyone this many times sir." Alex finished for him. "You manifest destiny types get that out of a pamphlet or something?"  
Rueben brought his hands together on his desk. "Is there anything else you need?"  
"Nothing from you." Alex finished with a slight flicker of flame, before leaving the office.  
As he closed the door he went to one of the militia mining guards, and asked him to take himself and his team to the infirmary.

* * *

"Why are we going down to the infirmary boss?" asked Dwight.  
"Because A: I want to check if they are alright, B: I want to get to the bottom of this, and C: I only trust corporates as far as I can throw them."  
Alex looked back up at Dwight. The man was huge, at least six foot five. He could have passed for a short Na'vi man if he grew his hair and painted his body blue. A bear of a man was the best way to describe him. He wasn't slow, but he only moved quickly when he needed to. And in close quarter combat, he had a tendency to throw people instead of just shooting them. He could probably lift the LMG all by himself without the exo-suit he was wearing.  
The team was lead through several corridors and areas, including recreation, more offices and a place overlooking a large hangar filled with Hell Trucks before they finally reached the infirmary. The hall was clean and well equipped, and several cots lined the walls. Alex went up to the people inside them. They were in hospital gowns, their stained armour piled neatly beside them. There were three militiamen, along with one mercenary lying in the beds, along with two other visitors from the same squad. In the corner, a doctor was filing a report on his desktop computer.

Alex went up to one of them. "How are you guys holding up?"  
The militia man gave a small smile and nodded his head. "Doc said we're gonna be fine. It's more comfy in here than the crappy couches in the rec room."  
Another man asked on how things are going outside. Alex decided to be friendly. "They're having a game of soccer out there. Sorry you guys can't play."  
"That's all right sir." Another shrugged. "I've always been a football type of guy."  
In the beginning, one of the colonists had brought a football to play around with. Unfortunately, due to Pandora's low gravity, it got lost in its first game when one of the players kicked it not just off the field, but right out of the colony altogether. To this day, rugby and football have never taken off on Pandora.

"Yeah... uh, listen, I've got to ask you guys some questions about what exactly happened back there at the perimeter."  
"Huh? Oh right... uh... what you want to know?"  
"Tell me how this whole thing got started, what were you doing when they attacked?"  
The wounded men started to sit upright in their beds. They looked to one another, waiting and hoping that somebody would answer for them.  
"Well... we were helping to guard one of the big dozers at the time."  
"What were you clearing?"  
"Just some scrub." Answered another man. "We were going to put up a new boundary fence for vegetation bots to patrol around. It's pretty standard, harmless stuff."  
"You used one of the dozers for it?"  
"Yeah, I know. We were going to just flame the place like normal, but wind conditions made it look like a pretty bad idea, so we got that road making dozer out to just flatten the stretch that we needed. Seemed like a good idea at the time."  
"Okay then..." Alex took stock inside his head. Yes, Na'vi absolutely hated those giant road making dozers for a reason, some of their most precious places were destroyed by them, but it wasn't as if the miners were ploughing over a sacred site. Things still didn't add up.

"So... people say that you guys had to stop for a bit. What happened?"  
One of the militia shrugged. "Not sure. The driver of the thing said that one of power cables had become dislodged, or something... anyway, we stopped for a bit, took a smoke and a drink and kept our eyes on the forest for about a minute or two while the dozer was being fixed, when suddenly we heard the driver shouting for help from the other side."  
"Oh yeah man..." the merc spoke up. "There sounded like some kind of fight coming from the other side of the dozer when-"  
"Wait, everybody but the guy fixing the thing was on only one side of the truck?" Alex interrupted.  
"Oh... sorry, we were on the side facing the forest." Answered another militia man a little guiltily. "We were more worried about something from the forest coming to kill us than from the mines."  
"Fair enough. I guess..." nodded Alex. "What happened?"  
"I went over to check up on the driver, and I was just in time to see this big motherfuckin' Na'vi grabbing the poor bastard and smash him into the dozer! There were two of them, one big and one small, and the big guy was smashing the poor bastard into the thing!"  
"Jesus... What did you do?"  
"What did I do? I started shooting, that's what! I think my shots went wide, but I managed to wing one of them, before the other swiped me with this big staff thing and sent me flying!"  
"After that, it was fucking chaos hombre..." another militia man shivered. "There were arrows flying out of the fucking woodwork man. We shot back. I got it in the shoulder, others got one too, it was scary man."  
"Those Na'vi must have gotten away while we were shooting. I think I managed to hit one of the bowmen... and that's about it. We called for medevac, and now we're here."  
"Man..." Alex shook his wiped his face. This didn't look good. "Did you actually kill anyone?"  
"Don't think so." Answered one of the visiting militiamen. "We found some bloodstains, but no bodies. Not sure if any of them succumbed to wounds or anything. The driver was lucky."  
_Oh thank god..._

Alex decided to finish up here. "Well then... I guess that about- Wait, wait, wait..." he suddenly realised something wrong. "You guys mentioned that there was a driver involved?"  
"Uh, yeah..."  
"I thought dozers were remote controlled!"  
"Oh yeah, shit sorry..." a militiaman realised. "We couldn't be bothered with getting permission from Hells Gate to do get a driver up, which takes way too long, and usually, they're not bothered to get a driver to clear scrub. So we just got one of the colonist's to manually drive the thing there. He was just some young mechanic guy, the poor bastard was lucky to be able to walk out of there."  
_Christ, this is exactly what I needed._  
"If he was injured, why isn't he in here with you?"  
One of the doctors typing up on a counter looked up. "He only suffered a broken arm, a few cracked ribs, and minor lacerations. A new arm cast, some medigel and some painkiller, and we sent him back to work."  
"Where is he now?"  
"Let's see..." the doctor checked his computer. "Ah, it's a Mr. Gage Hudson, Canadian. He works over in the main hangar bay where the Hell trucks are kept."  
"Perfect!" Alex started to get up and walk out. "Thanks for the help guys; I'll see about getting this place those new couches you've always wanted."

* * *

'Big' wasn't a word which did the Hangar enough justice. It wasn't as big, or as durable as the legendary Armour Vault at Hells Gate, but this place easily managed to house some of the huge Hell Trucks that the mines used. The sounds of machines, welding and mechanics filled the place. The great monstrous Hell Trucks dwarfed Alex and his team as they walked by, while mechanics in oil covered exo-suits and coveralls swarmed over them, fixing their various issues. The air on Pandora tended to make machines require more maintenance than on Earth.

"Man, my little brother always used to be into Monster trucks..." a militiawoman smiled in nostalgia. "He would have loved to see these. I wonder how he's doing back on Earth."  
"He probably wouldn't mind if his big sister sent him a picture of one or two of them." Alex said in a friendly manner. "You guys can look around if you want, our man's over there."  
Alex moved on while his team wandered. He came up to one of the great beasts, partially disassembled and getting a servicing. Alex checked his watch: quarter to five. The sun was shining through the sky lights, casting atmospheric light rays across the place.  
"Mr. Hudson?" Alex called out.  
"Yeah? Who wants to know?" voice called back from the bowels of the machine.  
"The name's Sgt Garnett, I'm here to ask you a few questions."  
A dirty face poked out of the machine. On it was scuffle of blond hair, on a young face that reminded Alex of a kid who stole a bag of cash from a drug dealer. He looked as if he thought that he only had seconds to live.  
"If this is about that thing with the na'vi, I don't know anything pal, I was just set on, that's it." He raised his arms defensively. One of them was in a cast, covered in grease and scrawled on with Get Well messages. "It was over before I knew it, I nearly died man."  
"I still need to ask some questions Mr. Hudson. Could you get down from there? I won't bite." Alex called back, half joking.

The mechanic started to reluctantly climb down the machine. He looked nervous. "Okay... I don't know exactly how I can help you..."  
Alex went up to him. "I really need to speak with you now about this, it's important."  
"I told you, there's not-"  
This wasn't going very well. One thing that Alex had learned as a policeman, was that people were rarely interested as serving as witnesses. Between having to go to the station and having their time spent answering questions, people tried to distance themselves away from the scene of the crime.  
"Listen to me dammit!" hissed Alex. "This is really important. There was just a fight with the natives that you were involved in. I need to know exactly what went on there."  
"There's nothing to say man! They're gone-"  
"No they're not." He interrupted. "Listen to me Gage, some of our boys just shot and wounded several of the Na'vi at that dozer. Now, they really don't take kindly to that. They're not gonna let that slide. They are going to come back, with a whole lot more of their friends, and they are going to take the fucking torch to this place. People nearly died, and more people could very much be killed soon. It's my job to stop that from happening." He spoke a little more calmly. "But in order to do that, I need to know exactly what happened between you and them, that caused the bullets to fly. Can you do that?"

Gage looked around himself. Alex thought that he was checking to make sure that no one was watching, or listening in on him.  
"I think it's my own damn fault sarge..." he moaned despondently.  
"Just start at the beginning."  
"Well... I was just doing some work here on the Hell trucks... when a couple of militia guys came in asking for some help." Gage took a deep breath. "They needed someone to manually driver a dozer so that they could clear up some bush and scrub at the mines perimeter."  
"You volunteered?"  
"Yep. Thought driving one of the dozers would make a nice change from doing maintenance on them." Gage eyes drifted before refocusing. "There wasn't much to say about most of the job. They kept watch, while I cleared the bush away..." Gage looked over his shoulder. "Man, I always got the feeling that someone... or something in that forest was watching me, eh? Like, I felt eyes on me... know what I mean?"  
"Yeah I know that feeling." Alex nodded. "Keep going."  
"Well, things were going just fine, when the dozer started to give me some trouble. I had to stop and fix it."  
"What was the problem?"  
"Just a faulty power cable. Nothing serious, but it needed to be fixed. Anyway, I stopped the thing, and got out to fix it. I told all of the guys to watch the forest while I fix the problem on the other side. I figured I was safe. I mean, do you really expect a hammerhead herd to come at you from the mines?" He face-palmed. "Stupid..."  
"So what happened?"  
Gage took a deep breath. "Well... I was just making the repairs, I had just got a spare cable out from the spares cabinet on the dozer, when felt someone watching me. I looked to the side, and there was this na'vi guy. He was just sitting on the dozers tread guards, looking down at me." He shook his head. "Man, I don't know how the hell he got past the guards. I didn't even notice him sitting practically right next to me, until I felt him watching me."  
"What did he do?"  
"He just sat there, watching me. It was more awkward than scary because I had no idea in hell on what to do. He was about my size, wearing nothing but those loincloth things-"  
"Wait, hold on." Alex cut in. "How big did you say he was?"  
"About my size." Gage looked nervous. "What? Is that a problem?"  
_Oh fuck, this just got a whole lot worse..._  
"Jesus Christ man..." whispered Alex. "Can't you remember that Na'vi are supposed to be like, twice as big as us?"  
"What... oh, but... he was as big as me though!"  
"Yeah, and there's only one possible explanation for that. That Na'vi wasn't a man. You were looking at a fricking _child_!"  
"Oh shit..."  
"Keep going, what happened then?"  
"Well, the Na'vi... or kid... then asked me something in his language. I only took a class or two in it, so I had no idea what he wanted. He seemed friendly though." Gage looked down like a boy caught doing something naughty. "And that's when I did something really dumb."  
"What did you do?"  
"I gave him an apple." Gage breathed out. "I usually keep one as a snack, the ones they grow over at the orchards are pretty good, so I figured that I may as well be friendly."  
"Really?"  
"Well, really I was kinda just hoping that he'd just take the apple and go away. I couldn't take the suspense." He shook his head again. "He seemed curious about. I swear to God that his tail had started to shake more..."  
"And then?"  
"He was just about to take it, when a voice went up. I turned around and saw this really, really big na'vi guy stomping after me. He looked pissed man. He was shouting something, could have been at the kid, might have been at me. He was coming right towards me..."  
"What did you do?"  
"Panic. I started to shout for help from the guys other on the other side. It probably just made things worse, 'cause before I could get away, the big one ran right at me and smashed me right into the dozer." He shuddered. "Broke my arm and a couple of ribs. That's when the shooting started."  
"So... what did you do?"  
"Not much. Writhe in pain. I think I saw the kid take a round in the arm, but the guy who did it got swiped by the other Na'vi guy. Maybe he was the kid's dad or something... and that was about it. The guys that could still stand called for help after the shooting stopped and that was that." He looked around. "Do you need anything else? I got to get back to work."  
Alex burrowed inside his thoughts for a while. The situation was looking pretty dire. Sure, no one had been killed, but that didn't help stave off the fact that a child had just been shot. No one was going to take this lying down. Plus, there was no way to determine whether or not they were from the Omaticaya tribe. It was only a matter of time until the Na'vi came back as a mob. This was going to get really ugly, really fast.

* * *

Alex was about to thank him for his time and effort when a voice on the loudspeaker came on.  
_"Attention all personnel."_ a standard issue feminine corporate loudspeaker voice came on. _"Condition Orange. Extra-terrestrials sighted preparing to attack. All personnel please go to Condition Orange immediately. This is not a drill."_  
"Oh, shit..." Gage whispered.  
The atmosphere and activity in the hangar changed. Sirens started to go off. Mechanics started to hurriedly climb down their machines, where mercenaries and militia directed them to various areas such as the armoury and bunkers. People had dropped their tools and rushed to join them. It looked like people were preparing for war.  
Alex's squad started to assemble on his position, looking at him for orders. His radio squawked from the guys out by the entrance, who asked for orders.  
"What's the plan boss?"  
Alex put his head into gear. "Right, okay... You guys all come with me, we're going up to the control area, or whatever you call it, and I'll see what we can do." He thumbed his earpiece radio. "You guys on the other hand, go with the other militia guys, and see what you can do. Just go with the flow." He turned back to his team set in front of him. "We need to show who's boss."  
"Who is boss?" one of the team asked.  
"Me."  
"Well then, I'd better get moving then..." Gage started.  
"No..." Alex grabbed Gage's arm. "YOU'RE coming with us."


	9. Chapter 9: Confrontation

**Confrontation.**

"So... what, that's it?" Jake queried.  
"That's it Jake. There's nothing to suggest that this is anything than a simple mining op." Replied Norm tiredly. "Look, I know that the RDA never has this places best interests in mind, but they haven't done anything... yet."  
The Hometree had the same hustle and bustle that normally had. There were the sounds of talking, singing, working and what not. There was also the familiar feel of the great trunk that they had come to call home for the last six years. It seemed almost as if nothing could take it down (which was sadly false). And there was the same feeling of peace in the forest.  
But at the same time, the forest also seemed to be full of tension. As if every animal and tree knew that it was hunting season. Many a tribesman or woman said that they felt it in the forest. As if the place was holding its breath.

Jake and Norm were discussing the colony under one of the great towering trees near the Hometree. It wasn't as if either of them was paranoid; they just preferred to discuss this manner in private. Jake was still the same as ever, but Norm looked a little tired from a journey back from Hells Gate.  
"Jake, I've been talking to the science team. Dr. Carnegie's been very accommodating, and most of the colonists don't look as if they mean any ill."  
"Well... okay, fine." Jake relaxed a little.  
"Jake, no offence, but for what, a week now, you've been tense." Norm said with a tinge of concern. "You need to relax."  
"Yeah, I know, I know..." sighed Jake. " It's just... I just keep expecting the hammer to come down any minute now. I mean, remember the blackout? That's NEVER happened before."  
"So?"  
"So, why did it happen when the colony had started up? When I was taking Alex and Noh back to the colony? I mean... ughh..." Jake started to rub his head. "... Fuck..."

"You okay Jake?"  
"Yeah... it's just another headache Norm..."  
"Headache?" Norm frowned. "What, as in migraines?"  
"No... not migraines, just normal..." Jake looked back at Norm. "Look, it's just been weird ever since they've showed up, and I'm just... tense."  
"Why tell me that?"  
"I dunno..." Jake sat down. "Look, I'll be back soon Norm, I just need to think for a minute."  
"Well... Okay then." Norm turned and walked back towards the Hometree. "See you later."  
"Bye."

When he was sure that Norm had left, Jake got up and started walking.  
When he was human, back on Earth, he was used to taking orders from someone higher up the food chain than him. That was when he was a soldier. Now he was on top of the food chain. As a chieftain, he was the leader of his people. He was now the person who made the decisions that could make the difference between the survival of his tribe, and their utter destruction. And that idea weighed heavily upon him.  
As Jake walked on he came to a familiar bit of ground. It was a small clearing. There was nothing interesting about the place; with the exception of small mound of dirt, resting up against the tree.  
This was where they buried his old human body.

Jake squatted down in front of it. He was starting to come back to the place more often over the past few months. It was his quiet place. As silent as the grave. Which it was.

He dwelled on his old life, back to his time on Earth. He remembered how it was. The corporations taking what they wanted. The crushing amount of people. The poverty that was everywhere. The armies fighting over scraps of resources. Pandora was a paradise compared to it.  
He started to think back to what that militiaman, Alex, had said back at the Hometree, in front of the entire tribe.

_We are not just talking about the Unobtainium here. There are millions of people back home, including me, who would risk everything that they had to get here. They are willing to die to stay here, in a land where they can breathe the air, walk through the jungle and hunt. A land where they can live as people should live. And as long as there is Unobtainium here that can be mined, or trees that can be cut down, or any kind of way to make a living here, they'll take it. Because this is a place where they can start a new life._

Jake dwelled on those words. He knew with utter certainty, that that policeman from Earth was right. He knew that so many would want to come here. Denying them new life, just like that, would be cruelty. The concept of the new life here was as tantalizing as being able to walk again.

But he couldn't be sure. Do these people, these colonists, know how much this place was worth? Do they care about the wilderness, about the wildlife that was more alive than anything back on Earth? Or are they just apathetic pillagers, viewing the Pandora as nothing more than a gold mine to be mined and harvested, and then discarded? He couldn't be sure yet.

Just as he was thinking about the colonists, the Voice slithered into his ear again.  
"How do you know that they won't just pave over this place?" it slithered. "What would stop them?"  
Jake started to grit his teeth. _Aw fuck, not this shit again..._  
He turned behind himself. There was no one there.  
_Great. I'm still crazy._

As if the colony problem was big enough, Jake was starting to hear friggen' voices inside his head.  
It wasn't as if he was actually talking to someone who wasn't there. Sometimes, he would just be all alone, for a minute, when suddenly that Voice would creep into his head. He didn't know what it was, or why it was there, it just came. Sometimes, he partially agreed with it. It asked right questions.

Jake started to hear rustling in the bushes, towards where the Hometree was. He relaxed when he realised they were just footsteps.  
"Jake?" Neytiri's voice came. "Are you okay?"  
She came out of the scrub. The years after the battle had been good to her. Blessed with both a child and a caring family, she was growing into a strong woman. Her mother did her best to teach her everything there was about the Worldmind; she was going to be the next Tsahik at some point or another. But no matter what, she still had time for family.

"I'm fine Neytiri. I really am." Jake answered back.  
Neytiri went and sat down beside him. "You know that's not true Jake." She said. She looked at the grave. "Why do you come here all the time?"  
"It's quiet."  
"That's it?" She shook her head. One of the things Mo'at taught her was how to help and understand people. "Come on, no secrets."  
Jake took a breath. "It's these humans 'Tiri." He looked tired. "I don't know what to do."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I don't know if we should fight them or let them stay."  
There was silence.  
"They haven't done anything wrong yet Jake."  
"But it's only a matter of time."  
"You're just being a worrier."  
"I hope so."  
There was more silence.  
"You didn't answer my question Jake."  
The avatar chieftain stiffened.  
"Alright, fine." He said. "I-"  
He was going to answer more fully when voices started to shout.  
"What's going on?"

The two Na'vi scrambled through the bush and moved to the Hometree. There, they saw the sight that they were dreading for some time.  
It was a group of hunters, eight of them, on horseback. That in itself was nothing to fret about, but these ones had just been in a fight. Three of them were being helped off the horses. They were wounded, blood seeping through cloth bandages. They moaned in pain. Onlookers and helpers started to gather around, giving cries of alarm and doing their best to assist the wounded.  
Jake rushed forward towards the leader of the party.  
"Se'Huk!" he shouted. "What the hell happened?"  
The leader of the party turned. He was a bit temperamental, but he was normally a good man. "They tried to steal my son!" he shouted.  
"What?"  
"The Sky People! They..."  
"Se'Huk, calm down!" shouted Neytiri. "What happened?"

"We were taking a break in the forest, having a rest, when my son vanished."  
"What, vanished?"  
"Gone!" he exploded. "We searched everywhere for him, we were too close to the mines that the sky people used for it to have been an accident."  
"You found him right?"  
"Yes, I found him... At one of those demon forest eaters! I crept towards it, and what did I find, but one of the humans was trying to lure him into the colony!" He was practically livid.  
"What happened?"  
"I rescued him from the one trying to lure him. But he shouted, and another one of their warriors shot my son!"  
"Oh no..." whispered Neytiri.  
"Is he okay?" demanded Jake.  
Se'Huk motioned to four Na'vi attending to a stretcher. On it laid Se'Huk's son, unconscious, with bandages over his body. He had been shot just below the ribs on the right. The red blood contrasted vividly with the blue fur.  
"He's still hanging on to life, the good boy." He turned back to Jake. "Chieftain, _they shot my son._" His eyes were ablaze. "We can't let them get away with this."  
Jake was silent. Almost as if they knew the tribe around started to grow silent themselves. They were waiting for his decision.  
"Yes, you're right. We can't." He said with finality. "Get everyone ready." His eyes started to steel. "We are going to war."

* * *

The war party was huge. An armada of wings flew through the skies, over a hundred in total. At the head of it all was Jake, perched on his Ikran, mulling over the battle plans one last time.  
_Mu'kala's party flies around above the mines to draw their fire to begin with. The rest of us hits hard and fast, smashing their guns, and their aircraft before they have a chance to take off. Then we get down there, and torch the place._

He looked back towards his warriors. They were mixed in terms of experience. A lot of them were veterans of the Battle at the mountains, but many of them were fresh from their training. Many of them had only been bonded with their Ikran's last week. They were the equivalent of fresh out of boot camp.  
He wished that it didn't come to this. He didn't want to lead his people against an enemy of possibly far greater stature than they were. He thought of the young bloods with him. For all he knew, he could be leading them to their deaths.  
_Stay focused. _He mentally snapped to himself.

They were coming up to the mines. He could see that the great holes were even bigger than when he last remembered. This gave him a little bit of resolve... a small amount. Problem was, the mining machines were being taken offline. He could make out workers running for the compound. More worrisome, was that the Auto turrets were being aimed towards Jakes tribe. It looked like they saw them coming.  
Jake keyed the throat mike on his neck.  
"Mu'kala, get ready to draw their attention."  
_"Yes Cheiftain."  
_Mu'kala's group peeled off and flew towards the guns. The twenty flying warriors started to scream in range of the turrets.  
To everyone's surprise, none of the guns fired.

Something was wrong with this whole get up. That was the one thought that surged through the whole war party.  
"Mu'kala!" Jake shouted. "Don't wreck anything yet! Something's not right!"  
Mu'kala's party broke off from swooping above the compound. Not a single shot was fired.

_What the hell was going on?_

Something attracted his attention. On the ground, a couple of hundred yards from the compound, was a burning flare. Standing next to it was a solitary, familiar figure. Jake couldn't make out its face, it was too far away.

Jake keyed his mike and shouted to everyone "Don't follow me."  
He swooped towards the mines. The rest of the war party remained in the skies. As he screamed down, not one shot was fired.

Jakes Ikran touched down near the flare. The figure, a lone militiaman, remained where he was. His gun was holstered on his back. Jake got off his Ikran in a solid movement and landed with a thump. The militiaman didn't seem too perturbed by the size of the beast. He'd seen one before.

"Good of you to not come in guns blazing." Alex said approvingly. "We need to talk."


	10. Chapter 10: Flashpoint

Flashpoint.

Things weren't looking up right about now. Tensions between the colony and the Na'vi had just reached its flashpoint after a skirmish between a hunting party and a squad over a mechanic and a Na'vi boy. Now there was an armada of flying beasts flying near the mining compound and a large number of colonists and soldiers armed to the teeth. If things didn't calm down fast enough, this was going to be a bloodbath.

As Jake and Alex talked between each other, a group of humans watched both the two leaders in question, and the flying beasts in the distance. In question, they were all part of the militia, with the exception of the mechanic; Gage.  
"They've been talking for a while." Mac said to no-one in particular.  
"You don't say, Sherlock." Dwight muttered.  
"Hey, I'm just nervous." Mac defended himself.  
"You think YOU'RE nervous?" whispered Gage. "I don't even know why I'm here! Do you?"  
"Nope." Dwight shrugged.  
"Then why the hell are you going along with this?"  
"Because we trust Alex, that's why." Mac shrugged indifferently.  
There was more silence. The Na'vi chieftain and the liaison kept talking.  
"Waitaminute." Gage suddenly realised. "How did you convince Mr. Netanyahu?"  
One of the militia men; Emile, barely suppressed a wolfish smile.  
"That's easy." he smiled. "We didn't."  
"What? But he's going to go ballistic when he hears about this!"  
"Nah, he's cowering in a bunker near the admin." Mac reassured him. "That said, I hope this is wrapped before he finds out what's going on."

The two leaders kept talking. Another militiawoman; Jade, started to look worried.  
"Do you think they know?" she whispered.  
"Who?"  
"The guys back at base. You know, everyone else?"  
"Probably." Dwight replied. "Why? Worried backup won't get here in time?"  
"You kidding me?" Jade whispered. "Backup getting here is exactly what I'm worried about!"  
"What? Why?"  
"C'mon man. A bunch of testosterone charged mercs flying in here guns blazing?"  
The thought sank in.  
"Okay, that is bad." Dwight agreed. He looked around. The sun was starting to set. "Odds are... they'll probably be here by nightfall."

The humans watched the conversation for another couple of minutes. Then Jake got onto his Banshee and flew off.  
"Is it all settled boss?" Emile called out.  
"Not yet." Alex called back. "He'll be back in a minute or two."  
"What- what's he doing?"  
"He's just getting a friend of his."  
"Oh... okay then."  
They waited a few minutes. The flare went out. Alex popped another one. He didn't leave his spot.  
Suddenly two of the great shapes out in the sky flew towards them. They were Banshee's, one of them the same as Jake's, the other one, a different beast. The riders dismounted. Jake was one of them, but the other Na'vi rider was a man who none of the militia recognized. Gage on the other hand, met him before.

"Oh man, Oh god..." Gage whispered, face turning white.  
"What's the problem?" Mac asked.  
Gage didn't answer.  
There was some talking for a few more minutes. Then Alex turned towards the group.  
"Mr Hudson." He called out. "Could you come over here?"  
The poor mechanic was rooted to the spot.  
"Guys? Would you kindly?"  
Jade prodded the mechanic. "Dude, c'mon."  
There was no response.  
Dwight sighed before grabbing Gage's arm. The group slowly made their way to Alex.

As they made their way over, the Na'vi man who had come with Jake seemed to recognize Gage. His face started to turn red. He made a move towards the humans. Jake grabbed him quickly.  
"Se'huk! Don't do anything rash!" he ordered in Na'vi.  
"Rash?" Se'huk snapped back. "He's the one that stole my son!"  
The two Na'vi started to argue. Only Alex could understand what was being said, the other humans could only just stand there and hope that they weren't talking about their impending execution.  
Alex started to interrupt the argument. He started to talk fluently in Na'vi, and lo and behold, he seemed to calm them down. Then he turned towards Gage.  
"Gage I need you to tell us your version of what happened back at the dozer." He said firmly. "Pick your words with the most extreme care."  
Gage stuttered for a second, but he managed to collect himself. He told them everything. How, while he was repairing the dozer, the child had appeared out of nowhere. He was careful to emphasise that he didn't know how the child got there, only that he tried to make him go away by giving him an apple. Alex and Jake translated for Se'huk. Gage finished by saying that he was sorry for this whole mess, and that he wasn't sure how he could make up for it.  
Despite the confession, Se'huk didn't seem very impressed. He said that there was no way his boy could sneaked his way through the guards. And that was when things devolved back into argument. The three Na'vi speakers started to argue amongst themselves, even Alex.  
"This isn't going well." Whispered Dwight.  
"No shit Sherlock." Mac responded flatly.  
Then just when things looked like they were about to get worse... They did just that.  
"**What the hell is this shit?**" shouted a voice coming from the compound.  
The group turned to see what they had hoped they would not to see: Mr. Netanyahu, thundering over with three RDA security guards.

* * *

_Goddamnit... _Alex thought, gritting his teeth. _Just when I was on to something._  
"Sir, could I PLEASE ask you to return to the Admin block bunker immediately?"  
"I'll do no such thing!" Rueben snapped through his exo-mask. "I am not going to have anyone bargaining with extra-terrestrial savages over this colony! This land is-"  
Jake started to lose his cool. "Excuse me, But I do know how to speak English!" he shouted.  
"OH! I see..." he sneered. "The blue smurf knows how to talk civilised!" Rueben continued to rant; completely unaware of whom he was talking to. "Well excuse me, but just because our liberal left wing militia likes you, doesn't mean the rest of us does!"  
"I resent that!" Jade shouted indignantly.  
"Rueben, this is MY jurisdiction!" Alex snapped with as much authority as he could muster. "I am ordering you to go back and stay the fuck out of this!"  
"Or what?" Rueben sneered back. "You're going to write a letter to that big teddy bear Halverson?"

* * *

Alex was about to punch the officious man's face in. His fists clenched.  
But then the strangest thing happened. He felt... calm. A strange sense of calm and harmony flooded within him.  
It was hard to explain. But he felt amazing. He felt as if someone had splashed a bucket on himself. He stopped thinking murderous thought and started thinking policeman thoughts.  
_Just stay calm_ a voice inside his head told him.

The situation was starting to spiral out of control. If this wasn't resolved soon, people were going to die.  
_Let me think._ Whispered Alex inside his mind.  
As the people around him raged, he started to measure them up. Rueben was the problem. All of his manifest destiny raging was going to get them all killed. The RDA guards seemed to support him, but even they were starting to look uncomfortable. Alex guessed that they would support him if they were attacked, but they privately wanted Rueben to shut the hell up. They didn't want to fight Jake and Se'huk at such short range. Dwight and the others would support Alex; they respected him more than some blowhard supremacist. Problem was, they couldn't act first, without being convicted of assault. Jake was arguing with Rueben, and he was starting to grow more and more aggro. Same with Se'huk, he didn't quite understand the language, but he knew what was being said through the tone. Finally, Gage wouldn't be of any help period. He looked as if he was way out of his depth.  
Alex knew that in order to pacify the situation, he needed to shut Rueben up. Problem was, if he just punched him, or use force (reasoning with him was out the window.) the two mercenaries could get nasty. Finally, he couldn't threaten him with his gun, because-  
Alex's eye drifted to his pistol in his leg holster.  
_Could I?_  
It sounded crazy, but it just, might, work...

* * *

Rueben was still arguing with Jake, about who owned Pandora or something like that, when Alex drew his pistol out of his holster, raised it at the foreman and said with unnatural calm and authority. "Rueben, I am ordering you to head back to the admin bunker right now, or I will shoot you."

Time seemed to have stopped for about five seconds as everyone took in what Alex was doing.

Rueben gave another one of his sneers. "So this is what it's come to huh? You love the aliens so much you're willing to kill one of your own human comrades?"  
"I didn't say I was going to kill you." Alex replied in a serious, calm fashion, never taking his eyes off Rueben. "I am not perfect and I don't 'love' these aliens..." he pointed his other thumb at Jake without taking his eyes off Rueben. "Well, _he_ might, but unlike you, I've been given the authority to find out who is in the wrong and who is in the right. AND, unlike so many other people, I've actually got the good knowledge to know the bloody difference. So I am asking you one more time, _fuck off._"  
Everyone was silent. Alex thought he heard his radio squawk, but he didn't listen.  
There were many thoughts going around the group's heads. For Gage, it was _Oh why didn't I listen to dad and stay home?_ For Se'huk, it was _These humans are fucking crazy. They're ALL crazy._  
The militiamen and the mercenaries on the other hand were thinking _Why the hell is his pistol taped up in orange training colours?_  
Rueben decided to call Alex's bluff. "You don't have the balls to shoot me." He said, trying to draw on as much bravado as he could. "Go right ahead."  
Alex gave an indifferent "Okay." Then he pulled the trigger.

* * *

The round smacked right into Rueben's forehead, throwing him on the ground immediately.  
Everyone raised their weapons at Alex in shock and horror. The Na'vi backed away. The great banshees squawked at the gunshot.  
"**OH MY GOD ALEX," **screamed Mac.** "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST-** wait, what?"  
The militia and mercenaries were seconds away from beating Alex's head into oblivion, if not shooting him, when they all looked at Rueben.  
His head and mask were covered in orange paint, the origin of which being a small dime sized bruise right in the middle of his forehead. His chest still rose up and down. He was still very much alive.

"What did you do to him?" Jake asked quietly.  
"It's paint-tranq." Alex said examining his gun. "It causes partial paralyses and if enough is uh, applied, unconsciousness. We use it in training."  
"Wait a minute." Emile shook his head rapidly. "I thought we swapped out for real ammo when we headed out?"  
"Guess I forgot my pistol." Alex holstered the taped up gun. He then tapped the shotgun slung over his back. "For the record though, my shotgun is loaded with the real deal."

The mercenaries and militia lowered their weapons slowly. One of the militia men asked a mercenary: "I'm surprised we didn't just shoot him down right then."  
"Me too." The merc answered. "But I figured something wasn't right with the training tape."  
Jake was in the process of telling Se'huk what the hell just happened. Then he turned to Alex and said "You're crazy Alex."  
Alex shrugged. "I just do what it takes."

* * *

There was silence. They weren't sure what exactly to do. Gage looked like he was a witness to a crime.  
"What about my son?" Se'huk surprised everyone by asking the question in English.  
"Mr. Se'huk I'm _so_ sorry about him." Gage pleaded. "Please... uh, what's the word... _txoa_?"  
"I think he's telling the truth Se'huk." Jake said carefully.  
Se'huk was silent for a while before finally responding with "I think you're right." In Na'vi.  
"Does that mean it's settled then?" asked Dwight.  
"No." Se'huk shook his head. "I will talk to my son. Get his view. Then I will come back."  
"I don't think that's a good idea." Mac said. "This place will be locked down tight."  
"Hold on..." Gage said suddenly being helpful. "How about I get a radio from the stores for you guys? You could contact us on a frequency, and then we could arrange a place to meet. What about that?"  
Jake mulled it over for a minute. "Yeah... that could work." He started to brighten up.  
"Gage, could you quickly go and fetch a good radio?" asked Alex.  
"Yes sir." Gage said, already running back to the hangars. With his exo-suit, he was there in 30 seconds.

Alex turned to the mercenaries. "What do we do about Rueben?"  
A merc shrugged. "We'll just drag him to medical." He said bending over to pick up Rueben. He slung over his back like a hunter hauling a steer. "I'll tell everyone that it's all cool now."  
"Thanks."

As the mercenaries walked off to the compound, Jake spoke up.  
"Thanks."  
"For what?"  
Jake was silent for a few seconds before shrugging in an uncertain manner. "Don't know. But thanks anyway."  
"Well... okay then." Alex keyed his radio. "Wikus, come in."  
"_Huh... what?"_ a voice called back, disturbed from doing Sudoku puzzles while grounded with the rest of the mines air fleet.  
"It's Garnett. The situation's been resolved. Could you come pick us up?"  
_"Sure thing bru. Where are you?"  
_"Out in the fields near the hangars. Look for the banshees."  
"_Uh... okay then. Coming in, ETA two minutes."_  
Gage had come back, hefting a radio pack. "You know how to use this thing Mr Sully?"  
"Yeah."  
"Okay then. There's an instruction manual packed with this in case of... well, you know." He gave the backpack to Jake, who put it on his back. "Don't forget to use the frequency. It's on the manual."  
"Right..."  
As Jake and Se'huk mounted their banshees, the thundering sound of beating helicopter blades came as Wikus' Haast flew over. It settled on the ground about twenty metres away Alex and co.  
"Do you guys mind if I hitch a ride with you?" asked Gage. "It's past my work shift."  
Alex shrugged. "Don't see why not." He turned to his squad. "What are you waiting for? Get in."

As the other humans went and got on the chopper, Alex walked over to the great beasts.  
"Hey Jake!" he shouted in Na'vi.  
"What?"  
"We don't _have_ to be enemies."  
Jake was silent.  
"Maybe..." he said back. Then he and Se'huk flew off.  
Alex got on his chopper. He watched the compound get further away, and watched the Na'vi armada break off and go home. He then felt the Haast switch to jet flight.  
"Hey Alex!" shouted Wikus from the cockpit.  
"What?"  
"Not bad for a day's work eh?"  
Alex thought for a while.  
_Did I really win?_  
He looked at his team. They were tired, but in good spirits. More importantly, they were alive.  
Alex found himself smiling. "Yeah... Yeah I guess eh?"

* * *

"We're pulling back." Shouted Jake to the rest of armada.  
"What?" blurted Mu'kala. "Why?"  
"Don't argue with me." Shouted Jake. "Tell everyone that we're going home."

* * *

"Oi Alex!" shouted Wikus over the chopper. "Get up here!"  
"What?"  
"Call coming from the guys over there." He yelled, pointing to the horizon.  
Alex couldn't quite see past Wikus and the windscreen, so he poked his head out of the troop bay to get a better view. A few other guys did the same thing.  
"Woah jeez..." breathed Alex.  
Coming closer and closer, heading in away from the mines was a human flying armada. There were Scorpions and Samsons, Haasts and something even bigger rumbling through the skies. It looked like what could have been the entire colony's fleet flying through the skies. There must have been close to under a hundred flying vehicles careening through the skies. Most of the flyers were being piloted and filled by the RDA mercenaries.  
"Radio's buzzing about you bru." Wikus yelled out. "I think they're disappointed that they're not going to be kicking any ass tonight."  
"Yeah?" shouted Alex "Hate to spoil their fun then..."  
The chopper merged into the convoy, switching back to chopper mode to match up its speed. The radio began buzzing with a mix of standard chatter and whining about how they got ready to go to war for nothing.  
As they headed back to base Alex noticed one flying plane that stood out from the rest. It was high above them, flying out of the range of any banshee or other flying monster, making it impossible to effectively attack by the Na'vi. It was an AC-320 Emperor Gunship. A distant descendant of the old AC-130 Spectre, the Emperor was a Dragon gunship that was equipped and modified with artillery cannons. Armed with two heavy howitzers, three autocannons and four chainguns, the Emperor could destroy a small town in a few minutes. The Na'vi would've had no chance in hell of killing it.  
"Damn..." Emile said simply, noticing it himself. "Glad we sorted everything out before they showed up huh?"  
"Yeah..."

* * *

The hollow was quiet. The light from the planet in the sky and the glow of the forest gave the Hometree a sort of peace. Easy to sleep in. The hollow was filled with sleeping Na'vi. They needed that sleep. They were injured. Hurt. This was the tribes equivalent to a hospital.  
Three Na'vi were being led through the bedmats, past sleeping Na'vi. The one leading, was Mo'at; the Tsahik, or shaman. The other was the chieftain of the tribe, and the other was a father. They tread through the hollow in utter silence.  
The Tsahik stopped at one of the bedmats. On it lay a Na'vi boy, shot in the side. He was sleeping peacefully. To the left of him, sat the mother. When Se'huk saw her, he embraced her to comfort.  
"Will my son be okay?" asked Se'huk in fear.  
"Have no fear Se'huk." Mo'at whispered reassuringly. "He will make a full recovery."  
Se'huk went down on his knees. For a man who wanted to go to war with the humans, this was not easy for him.  
"Hey...'_evi_" he whispered to his son's ear.  
The child stirred a little. His eyes fluttered open slowly.  
"_Sempul?"_ he croaked. "Father?"  
"It's me." Se'huk whispered, forcing a small smile. "It's all going to be alright Ke'tan."  
They were silent for a minute as the boy collected his thoughts together. Jake drifted to the background  
"Why did you hurt that sky-man?" he whispered.  
"What?"  
"He was just giving me a piece of fruit..." he whispered. "He was nice to me."

The people around him were silent.  
"Why did you leave your friends?"Mo'at said softly.  
The boy, Ke'tan, looked miserable. "I just wanted to look around." He whispered. "I thought I heard a rumbling sound. I wanted to see it."  
"Rumbling?" the father said in disbelief. "Ke'tan, I told you to stay away from those sounds." He looked like a man who had failed to make himself clear. "Those are bad sounds."  
"I just wanted to see."  
"So you went off by yourself? Alone?" Her mother said.  
"You could have been killed Ke'tan!"  
"I'm sorry dad, I..." Ke'tan trailed off. "I'm sorry." He paused and said. "I went and looked when you were busy and I saw the sky people's mines."  
"How did you get so close?" Jake asked.  
"The grass was long. I wanted to get closer, but I saw this big orange beast near the forest." Ke'tan whispered. "I wanted to see what it was."  
"Go on."  
"It was really big." He whispered. "There were sky-people all around it, but they were all watching the forest. I came from behind." He paused to catch his breath. "It was going around the side of the fields. Then it stopped."  
"Why?"  
"I didn't know dad." He kept whispering. "When it stopped, a sky-man got out and climbed out from the top. Then he opened it the monster up and started to poke around inside it."  
"So why did you go to it?" Se'huk asked in disbelief. He didn't want to believe that his son had done something foolish.  
"I wanted to see how he did it."  
"Did what?"  
"Open up a beast and poke around inside." He said with a tinge of awe. "How do they do that dad? Open up the inside of a beast without killing it?"

The other Na'vi looked at each other to try to come up with an appropriate answer.  
"Maybe you'll understand when you are older." Se'huk said paternally. "You said you went up to it?"  
"Yes _sempul_." Ke'tan continued. "I crept up to the beast; all of the guards were on the other side. Then I saw the sky-man poking around inside it." The boy paused. "I watched work inside it. Then he saw me."  
There was silence.  
"What did he do?" Se'huk asked.  
"He looked... I don't know... scared maybe... I asked him what he was doing. He didn't really answer."  
"What did he do?"  
"He gave me some kind of fruit." Sighed Ke'tan. "Well... he was about to... Then you came."  
Everyone was silent. One might have been able to hear the sounds of the tribe coming from outside the Hometree's hollow. But nobody talked for a while.

"Ke'tan..." Se'huk whispered. "I'm sorry that all of that had to have happened like that." The strong man was close to tears. "You have to believe me..." He gripped his son's hand tightly.  
The child started to cry. "I'm sorry too _sempul_." He croaked. "I shouldn't have left..."  
"It's okay..." Ke'tan's mother whispered. "It's all going to be okay..."

* * *

"To Alex Garnett!" shouted out Noh. "Our Ambassador to the Na'vi peoples. The silver tongue, the arbiter of justice and the guy who can get away with shooting somebody!"  
"Aww you guys..."

The Rec centre was in full swing. The place was packed with people off their shifts, do everything, from drinking, gambling, watching movies, playing games, reading, whatever people did to past the time.  
The bar in question was packed. As well as the usual regulars, the militia was in the process of toasting to Alex's diplomatic victory. Alex's team was there, as well as his friends, Noh and even Wikus had showed up. There was a whole new vibe in the air. Things weren't so tensed up as they were in the afternoon or even in the days beforehand. There was laughter and joy, a general feeling of celebration. People got the feeling that things were all right.  
"Dude..." Noh drifted. "I _cannot_ believe that I wasn't there when you put a bullet in the foreman's face!"  
"You tell me..." Alex smiled. "Where were you anyway? Battlesuit training right?"  
"Right. By the time I heard about what was going on, you were already on the scene, so command thought there was no need to send me." Noh nodded. "When the alarms sounded though, you bet your ass that I was made combat worthy and sent to the mines."  
"You were in the air?"  
"Nah, I was on the ground. You probably didn't see us, but most of us militia guys had to drive or walk to the mines." He smiled. "Running through a forest and road, encased in a couple of tons in armor... incredible man..."

There was more drinking and gossiping. One guy was talking about how some of the mercenaries were having a sook because they didn't get to do any fighting.  
"They always bitch about anything really." The man went on. "Still, makes a nice change to listening to them go on about Na'vi women.."  
"Hey guys..." Alex asked. "There's one thing I still don't get..."  
"What?"  
"If the foreman didn't send the signal for help, who did?"  
Wikus casually raised his hand. "I did."  
The militia on the table were silent for a second while the rec room continued to buzz with activity.  
"You did!" blurted Jade incredulously.  
The pilot shrugged. "I was just running a patrol over the road between the colony and the mines when I heard the chatter on the radio. I thought the first thing I should have done was radio command." He said professionally.  
Everyone looked surprised.  
"What?" he said defensively. "Everyone expects a militia to be a do-gooder, but nooooo...when a mercenary does the right thing oh no! It's obviously a Trap!"  
"Okay, you've made your point smartass." Mac laughed.

Alex took a drink out of his beer. For the first time since... well, forever, he felt really happy. He managed to do his job, despite the obstacles, and prevent war between two peoples. He couldn't say that he wasn't proud of himself.  
Yet for some reason, he still got the feeling that something wasn't right about what happened.  
"Hey Alex!" Mac said. "Did you know that a sniper was about to put a bullet when you shot Rueben?"  
"Yeah, Carson told me the only reason I didn't get killed was that the sniper saw the tape on the pistol..."  
"Yeah man..." Emile went on. "But what really struck me was how cool, calm and collected you were."  
"Yeah I guess..."  
"No man, I'm serious." Emile said with sincerity. "You were **so** ice calm when you drew that pistol. I thought that you were like, I don't know... high or something."  
"Yeah." Dwight joined in. "I mean, I was fucking going to break that assholes nose in, I was pissed. I thought you might have been too."  
"What's your secret boss?" asked another. "How did you keep so calm under pressure?"

Alex was silent.  
It occurred to him once, when it had actually happened. When he was about to break and go after Rueben, the strangest sense of calm came over him. Almost as if someone grabbed his hand and told him to control his breathing. Like fresh water being poured into his body. He had felt rejuvenated, ready to take on the challenge in the logical, objective way that it needed to be done. There was also another part of that feeling. Some kind of... vibe. Something he had felt before...  
Then it hit him. He had felt that vibe before, during the blackout a month or two ago. He felt it when he had went into those... Darklands. It was like he had felt its signature just now. And the voice... it felt familiar.  
"Well..." Alex began. "I think I can attribute it to all of copious amounts of drugs, alcohol and sex that have every day."  
The table burst into laughter.  
"To our esteemed guest of honour!" Noh shouted.  
Everyone clanked their drink.

* * *

The Hometree was starting to come back to life. The warriors had put their gear down, and were resting from a long day of flying. Jake and Se'huk had explained to everyone what had happened, which came off as a mixture of relief and confusion. What was surprising for all was the feeling of tension that had filled the forest during the morning was gone. People were laughing and singing, there had been a great communal meal put on for everyone, even the wounded were able to attend. It was a total u-turn from the morning.

As peoples families were heading off to bed, Neytiri was finishing up Miri's bedtime story.  
"And so after so many trials and troubles, the boy had found himself back home, in the arms of the parents who loved him and he lived happily ever after." She finished "The end."  
"And did his friends come back to visit him?" the young girl asked.  
"Yes Miri. He got to see all of the people who had helped him get home again."  
There was the sound of person clearing his throat. Neytiri looked behind and saw Jake.  
"I see you." He smiled.  
Miri gave a squeal of delight. Neytiri got up and hugged Jake.  
"How are you holding up?"  
"Fine...just tired." He nodded. "It's been a long day."  
"I can imagine." She smiled. "I was just finishing off Miri's bedtime story."  
"Which one did you tell?"  
"Re'ken's Journey."  
"Oh, a good one." He smiled.  
"Dad..." asked Miri. "What did you do today?"

Neytiri answered for him. "Dad's been busy dealing with the sky-people." She began. "There was some trouble between some of our friends and their people."  
"Did anyone get hurt?"  
Neytiri paused for a moment. "Yes... a few people got hurt..." she said uncertainly. "But they're all going to be all right."  
"Okay then."  
Jake whispered to his wife "'Tiri, could I talk to you for a moment?"  
"About what?"  
Jake led Neytiri out of their quarters. "Listen, I think it's time we told her."  
"Told her?" she looked a little puzzled. "About-...oh right."

Jake and Neytiri walked back in.  
"Miri... could we talk for a minute?" Jake asked in trepidation.  
Miri sat up with a little bit of caution. "Did I do something bad?"  
"No, no, no. Nothing of the sort... It's just..." Jake trailed off a little.

He went over to Miri and kneeled down to her level. Then he held one of her hands up.  
"Miri... Do you remember that you once asked me on why you have five fingers, while everyone else has four?"  
"Uh- huh." Miri nodded. "You said it was cause people look like their moms and daddies."  
"Right." Jake agreed. "And then you asked why I had five fingers right? Like a Sky-person."  
Miri nodded curiously.  
"Well, the thing is..." Jake started to say before taking a breath. "The reason that I have five fingers is because I used to be a Sky-person."  
Miri looked a little confused for a moment.  
"How is that possible?"  
"It's... a little harder to explain." Jake said hesitantly. "You wouldn't understand until you're older."  
Miri was silent for a while. Her tail started to curl and uncurl at times.  
"If you were a sky-man..." she said carefully. "Then did you help destroy the Hometree?"  
Neytiri moved forward. "No Miri!" she said with a voice that was a strange mix of force and pleading. "He never fought against us. He nearly died saving us from the ones who tried to destroy us."  
Miri recoiled back. "I'm sorry mum..."  
"It's okay Miri." Neytiri nodded. "It's okay."  
They were silent for a short while.  
"Why did you fight against your own people?" Miri asked.  
"Because I didn't like what they were doing. And because I grew to love this world." Jake answered quietly. Then he turned to Neytiri. "But mostly, it was because I loved your mother." He gave a small, shy smile. Neytiri blushed a little.

"Listen, Miri..." Neytiri began maternally. "There isn't much else that we can tell you right now, but we need you to promise us that you won't talk about this to anyone, even your friends. Unless they ask you about it. And especially not to strangers. Okay?"  
Miri nodded. "Okay then mommy."  
"That's my girl." Neytiri smiled. "Now, it's time to go to bed."  
Jake and Neytiri were just about to get up when Miri broached another question.  
"Daddy, these sky-people are good right?"  
Jake mulled the question over.  
"I think most of them are."  
"Then can they stay?"  
Jake stood silent.  
"Yes Miri. I think they can."


	11. Chapter 11: Arrivals

[VIDEO LOG NO. 8]  
[DATE: 16.3.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]: "Well, yesterday was one hell of a job. I, Alex Garnett, pretty much stopped this here colony from going to war with the Omaticaya tribe. It wasn't easy. Between miscommunication and people getting in the way of my job, it could have ended pretty nastily.  
The official report contains most of what you'd need to know. Mind you, what it doesn't go on about is what happened after I got back to base. The higher ups called me to the command centre in order for me to explain my actions. Specifically, my idea to shoot the foreman with paint-tranq.  
Turned out, as I was coming home that the asshole in question had come to, radioed command and made various furious complaints, slurs and vows-for-revenge. He was not pleased. The higher ups in question, The General, Director Selfridge, Major Halverson and Dr. Carnegie wanted a full report on what happened at the mines, an explanation of my actions, and my thoughts about what will happen next.  
I told it straight. I told them that a crisis with the Na'vi was about to occur, and that I was doing everything in my power to defuse the situation with diplomacy and talking, rather than bombardment and shooting. I told them that when Rueben had attempted to undermine my authority, I had to use emergency action to prevent him from screwing the situation up worse. I was clear that it was my job to prevent bloodshed, not start it.  
Well... I guess it went okay with them. The Director warned me that Rueben was trying to press assault charges against me, but in the current light, they will probably be overturned. Hellboy and Carnegie were full of praise. 'That's why I put you in charge' he said. General Carson... I don't know... He seemed almost... disappointed. I don't know if that was the right word. He was agreeing with the others on my actions and I think he was actually giving me some real respect, but... I don't know... It was like he was cheated out of something. If he was looking forward to all out war, then I should be worried.  
Well, in any case, I got off the assault charge without any real problems. Then Hellboy slipped me a sweetener: promotion to Warrant Officer.  
My life's on a roll."  
[END LOG]

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 10]  
[DATE: 25.3.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]: "Hey, I'm making more of these, Carnegie's orders. He says that it's for the best or something like that.  
I think I've made another interesting friend today. I've talked about him before; Norm Spellman, one of the Avatar scientists who stayed behind in their avatars. He came back a few days ago with word from Jake that everything's okay now after that accident. Me and Noh were tasked with managing him whenever he's in town. We try not to talk shop, but we always come around personal stuff. He seems like a nice guy. He got busted out along with Jake and the old Science leader, Augustine by this pilot woman, Trudy. He even fought with the Na'vi at the Hallelujah mountains.  
After talking with him... I think he's a good man. He looked and sounds like he's a person who would always try to do the right thing, no matter what. A rare quality indeed.  
I asked him once on what it's like to be a Na'vi for the rest of your life. He said he and the others didn't take the idea lightly. He said that it was because they all wanted to be able to live on Pandora without having to worry about their human bodies getting trashed while they were out and about. They made their choice and they stuck by it.  
He mentioned a wife at one point. Another scientist, goes by the name of Ellen Madison. They'd got together a year or two ago, good friends that became lovers at one point. I met her myself when she visited a while back. Nice woman. She and the others sometimes visit to assist the science team with any of their findings. And some of these findings are... unbelievable.  
The most amazing thing was this: The Tree of Souls that the Na'vi holds as sacred, as well as all of the other similar Trees, aren't just sacred sites. Apparently, according to research garnered by the late Grace Augustine, as well as various other scientists, each of these trees is linked together by these strange roots, all over Pandora. These roots not just connect the Trees of Souls or whatever, but are also sub connected to various plants and trees and whatnot. The theory is this: due to the high levels of Magnium, these are not just some roots that grow rampant. They fill the same function as nerves in a body. One of the things Na'vi always go on about was how the Trees in question are capable of communicating with Eywa; the Mother Goddess of Pandora. The white-coats theorise that this is actually the memories of various other Na'vi that had imprinted on the Tree. A sort of memory database if you will. Now, all of these Trees are connected by the nerve roots right? And all of these roots are also partially connected to various other floras. The idea is, is that these Trees, hell, this entire WORLD, is one _great big brain_. A Neural Network. Everything is interconnected on this planet; the plants the animals even the Na'vi. And there's evidence to suggest that these connections can somehow communicate with each other. This whole world DOES in fact have a literal Worldmind.  
[_Pauses_]  
I cannot believe how absolutely _ridiculous_ it all sounded when I first heard it. I thought the scientists were pulling my leg about this one, but they were so deadly serious about it. Then you hear all of the weird stories about the Hallelujah Battle. Weird stuff, like how random animals started to fight WITH the Na'vi. Now... I'm not sure what to think.  
I later broached the idea to the old Hellboy. When he heard it he started grumbling moodily. I did a double take, I kind of expected him to be all 'That's such bullshit'.  
I asked him 'why so grumpy?'  
And then he said "How come the Na'vi get a Neural Network on their home world, total harmony with nature and its surroundings, while we humans never got any such thing EVER back on our own planet? Does that mean we're inferior or something?"  
I didn't know what to say. I still don't.  
Mind you, it reminds me a bit of...  
[_Garnett stops mid sentence. He is silent for a minute._]  
Well, I don't know... Maybe he was just a little worried about things in the colony. His wife and child are coming over in the next transport.  
Oh shit, right I nearly forgot, The Magellan is coming back in a few days. It's going to be a big thing, with unloading supplies, loading on the Magnium, Lumber and the other stuff back on, and getting the new arrivals acquainted on Pandora. Thing is, we've actually made the decision to bring the families of all of the colonists to us, rather than let them wait for months on end for their loved ones to come back to Earth. This is a full colony program remember. We have to be accommodating for our own families to live here with us. It's going to be a busy week up ahead."  
[END LOG]

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 11]  
[DATE: 1.4.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]:"Man what a day. The Magellan just arrived last night, so we spent the better half of the day supervising the colonists offloading supplies and whatnot from the transports. It's hectic work. Watching the whole thing from the Battlements, or an observation tower is like watching armies of ants swarming over the place. It's just... yeah.  
We've also had our new arrivals come in. Basically all of the colonists are here now, as well as their families. They've all had their Gene-modding, so we don't have to worry about them needing Exo-Masks or anything, they can live here normally.  
It's strange seeing kids here again. They come down off the transports with their mothers or fathers in total awe of their surroundings. They get to see their dad or mom again which always leads to some tender moments. They all view Pandora as a great big adventure. I'm not sure what to think about that. Part of me thinks they should stay in the colony for their entire stay. The wildlife would eat them for brunch. The other part of me thinks that they should get to see the world. I'm not sure... maybe this is a good place to start a new family.  
As well as the new arrivals, we also got some new stuff to play around with. Most of it is mining and logging equipment, with some military stuff as well. We also got to play around with the new Revenant AMP's. They make our old ones look like they're from some crappy puppet show. Then the craziest thing happened. Noh and some of the other mech pilots organized a soccer match out on one of the fields. The thing was, all of the players were using mech suits, kicking around a vacuum packed bag of woodchips as a ball. It was insane. The guys in the new mechs were way faster than the ones who weren't. I think they had to call a dozer in to flatten the ground afterwards for all of the pock marks they made.  
I got to meet some of my friends' relatives. Emile's dad got to be here, as well as Jade's husband and kids and Mac's wife Joan. I also met Halverson's family. He's got a nice wife; Victoria, I think her name is, and this nice little girl, Lauryl. She was so ecstatic when she saw her dad; I swear we were going to need a crowbar to get her off her dad's leg. Some of them ask me on what the Na'vi are like. I tell them that they're different from us, but at the same time, so alike.  
Oh, and the best part is, is that dumbass Netanyahu is leaving when the Magellan goes with the Magnium. Says that the Pandoran air isn't good for his rheumatism. Yeah. Sure it is you loser...  
I also met our new priest. Father Byron has come to Pandora to give spiritual guidance to all of the ahem 'Christian' colonists. I talked to him for a while. He was asking all lot about the Na'vi, more so than the other new comers. I asked him why he was so interested in them. That's when he revealed that the reason he came to Pandora was so he could spread the Gospel of Light to the heathens.  
He's in for a rude surprise, that's for sure.  
[_Silence]_  
[Sighs] I wish Michelle was here.  
[_Silence_]  
Well, we still got a few days or so to offload all of the other stuff. It's going to be busy."  
[END RECORD]

* * *

[VIDEO LOG NO. 13]  
[DATE: 10.4.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]:"Well, it's been a while, but I had a chance to talk to Jake on the radio. He seemed good, he just called to say that everything was cool at his end. He and Carnegie talked for a while, when Carnegie made a request. He wanted to visit the tribe at the Hometree.  
We had a big discussion over the radio about it. Jake was hesitant to have us so close to home. Still doesn't trust us. We had to promise that only three choppers of scientists and their escorts would come over. Jake agreed only reluctantly. Guess who gets to tag along with the scientists?  
Noh's coming as well, he says he needs more time with the Na'vi. I'm bringing in my own team as well as other recruits in as well.  
[_Pauses_]  
I don't know why I'm saying this, but I heard something weird as I was waiting to brief General Carson about was going down.  
I was just waiting outside his office, sitting in the chairs that were so thoughtfully provided while one of the mercenary officers was talking with the General. I couldn't hear much to begin with, but then my ears started to prick up when I heard them talking about us militia.  
The officer... Manderley, I think his name was, was complaining about us Militia getting more and more power over their mercenary teachers. "Why do we have to put up with these fucking dickwads when this entire op could have been done by just us?"  
That's when Carson said: "Since you can't get anything into that thick skull of yours the first time, let me repeat myself. There are three reasons why you and I have to put up with them. Firstly, is that we lost a lot of manpower thanks to that cowboy fuckup Quaritch. We needed to subcontract, if you will, to hire people who could fire a gun, questionable morals being less important nowadays. Second, is that the U.N's Department of Extra-terrestrial Affairs have been on our asses ever since the Hallelujah fuckup, so for the time being, we have to play nice."  
"And thirdly?"  
"And thirdly my good man; when everything goes to hell, they're the ones who carry the can."  
I didn't really know what they were talking about, but I didn't like it.  
Anyway, wheels up tomorrow at dawn. It'll be great, I'm sure."  
[END RECORD]


	12. Chapter 12: Neighbours

It was a bright, warm morning on Pandora, and the Hometree was getting ready to greet the new day.  
In normal times, the morning would go at a leisurely pace. The tribe always knew where to find food, water and friends, so there was never any real rush unless there was something special happening soon. Unfortunately for the ones who wanted a quiet morning, this was going to be a special day.

* * *

At the foot of the Hometree, nestled amongst its great roots, a mother was talking to her child about what to do when the sky-people came by.  
"Now Miri, what did I tell you to be when they get here?" she asked maternally.  
"Polite _sa'nu_." The child nodded.  
"Good. Now I'm going to be talking to them for some time, so until your turn to see them comes up, I have to leave you with Hesh'ka for the time being."  
The child gave a displeased moan.  
"Miri, why don't you like her?" the mother frowned.  
"She's creepy." Miri pouted. "She keeps looking at me in a weird way."  
The mother sighed. Ever since the blackout, Miri had always been on edge. Because of her knowledge, Hesh'ka helped to console Miri in the days leading after the blackout. She was uncharacteristically interested in her.  
"Miri, you got to learn to put up with it. She's been very helpful to..."  
A voice called the mothers name from around the bend. It was weathered, but still full of life. The Na'vi warrior came from around the bend and looked about as glad as a Na'vi could be from under the scars when he saw Neytiri.  
"I'm right here Mu'kala." Neytiri said. "What is it?"  
"Just telling you that everyone is ready for when the sky people come." He replied. "We're not throwing a banquet for them, but I think people know what to do when they get here."  
"That's great. Tell my mother I will be with her shortly."  
Just before the scarred Na'vi walked off, Miri asked him a question.  
"Mu'kala, what are the sky peoples flying animals like?" she asked.  
Mu'kala gave the question a little bit of thought. "They aren't animals little one." He started. "They're machines. They are created, not born, just like anything else they have here."  
"What are they like?"  
"Some of them are just made for moving people through the sky. Other ones can..."  
Mu'kala trailed off. He stiffened. His eyes started to unfocus.  
"Some of them are not so good little one." he finished. "That's all I can say right now."  
Miri nodded. "Thanks Mu'kala."  
"You're welcome 'evi." He softened. "You just have a good day little one." He walked off.  
Neytiri turned to Miri. "It would be best that you don't bring up the sky people too much to him."  
"Why not?"  
The mother frowned to find words.  
"It... brings back memories for him. Bad ones."  
"How come?"  
"I can't answer that question for you Miri." She said. "Come on. It's time to go with your friends."  
Neytiri got up from the root and gave Miri a piggyback ride up the tree. All of the children with a few of their parents had been told to gather in the great branches. Everyone figured that if anything bad happened, the little ones wouldn't get in the way if they were high up.  
As they journeyed up the tree, Miri heard a strange noise. It wasn't thunder. Rumbling wasn't the right word for it either. It was a mixture of droning and thumping that came from afar. It sounded strange to Miri because it had too much of a rhythm to be natural.  
Neytiri turned to the horizon. There, they could see three objects in the sky, moving slowly towards them. Miri tightened her grip.  
"What's that mama?" she asked worried about what will happen.  
"It means that they're here."

* * *

"You know what?" Noh shouted to Wikus over the Samson.  
"What?"  
"I'm actually getting bored of the scenery."  
The statement settled in an uncomfortable way. For some reason, maybe for a bunch of reasons, that statement just seemed wrong somehow.  
One of the scientists, Gomez, took the bait. "Why?"  
"I dunno." Noh shrugged. "I'm not sure, maybe it's just cause I lived here a while, but somehow, the scenery doesn't really faze me anymore."  
"Aren't you amazed by the flying mountains and shit?" Mac yelled trying to make sense of it all.  
"Yeah, for the first couple of trips... Then it just becomes standard. Like seeing the sun rise."  
"Maybe you need to get out of the jungle and over to the oceans." Answered Wikus helpfully. "Or the tundra. Just a change of scenery, you know?"  
"I guess..." the liaison shrugged. "I dunno, maybe I'm just not a scenery kinda guy..."

Meanwhile, in another Samson, Alex was checking his datapad for the third time. Emile, who was sitting next to him, noticed that he was focused enough to not participate in the conversation on the radio. That got Emile thinking that something wasn't right.  
He craned his neck over to see what Alex was looking at. He just managed to make out 'Evidence on the existence of the Pandoran Worldmind. By Stanley Carnegie' when the datapad was swiftly folded shut, followed by a steel face stare from Alex.  
"Is there a problem Emile?" he said in a voice that was both low profile, and at the same time, shout 'Back Off'.  
Emile looked away, trying to look unimportant himself. "No sir, I was just looking to see what-"  
"Yeah, well, look somewhere else, this is private."  
There was a short period of silence on the chopper. Emile finally dared to break the ice.  
"I think that stuff about a Worldmind is a load of shit." He said casually.  
"And what makes you say that?" Alex said with concealed moodiness.  
"It just seems stupid that's all." Emile continued. "I mean, it's just that there's not a lot of evidence to suggest that God, or Eywa or whatever actually physically exists, that's all."  
"Hmm..."  
There was another pause.  
"That's why Father Byron's been dragged along." Alex said.  
"What? Oh right..." Emile looked towards the Samson carrying the priest. "You actually support him teaching the Na'vi Christianity?"  
"Nope. I brought him along to teach _him_ a lesson." Alex said with a little bit of satisfaction in his voice. Like a scout, watching an invading army wander right into a minefield.  
Emile decided to break the conversation off. He'd see soon enough what would happen.  
The choppers kept going on, soaring above the forest. Soon they reached their target.

The Hometree towered above the forest like a skyscraper. Alex and Noh weren't that fazed. Everyone else was. The standard radio chatter of 'Oh my god, it's so big!' went around the radio. Thing was, Alex kind of agreed with Noh. The Pandoran jungle_ was_ getting kind of boring, and seeing the Hometree wasn't helping. He needed a change of setting sometime or another... Like that was going to happen with all of their commitments in the area.  
As they approached, they saw a flock of banshees come from the trees and fly towards the choppers. They were a fair distance away, but their vibrant colours were not exactly good day camouflage. The humans could just make out the riders on top of them.  
"Sir, they're coming towards us. What do we do?" the pilot of Alex's Samson asked apprehensively.  
"Fingers off the trigger pilot. I think they're just welcoming us." Radioed Alex.  
"You think?" someone nervously asked on the radio.  
The flock started to move closer. The humans in the troop bay started to get more apprehensive, cocking guns, and clutching their gear. Noh took note of this and told everyone to calm down.  
The banshee's got closer. The various details and markings all over the beasts and riders started to become more and more clear. All of this paled in comparison to the fact that they were heading directly AT the choppers. Alex started to get worried.  
"Okay okay maybe we should OH SHIIIIIT!-"  
Just when the flock looked as if it was about to collide with the choppers, they swiftly dived right under them, and kept going. A couple of humans actually screamed in fright. Alex's own heart stopped for about three seconds. He could have sworn that he heard laughter as the Banshees moved on.  
The banshees turned around and came back, but instead trying to charge the Samsons, they flew beside the choppers and matched their speeds. One of them flew right beside Alex's chopper. It was being flown by young Na'vi woman who was smiling mischievously at Alex.  
"Oh ha, ha, ha, very funny Shee'kana!" Alex shouted at her in Na'vi. "We could have shot you!"  
"Well, I knew that the wise and merciful Garnett was coming along!" Shee'kana gleefully replied, evidently not caring too much. "I knew that you wouldn't be here to cause any real trouble!" She motioned her head towards the Hometree. "Follow us. We'll lead you to a place where you can land."  
Alex gave the word to the pilots who hesitantly complied. They weren't exactly happy about what had happened.  
As they followed the flying beasts, one of the passengers aboard the Alex's Samson, a scientist asked nervously, "Are they always this... playful?"  
"It's just her. She's just a young blood, that's all."

* * *

The Samson's were lead to a clearing a few hundred metres away from the Tree itself. As they landed, Alex took note of a small group of Na'vi waiting for them. He keyed into his radio. "Everyone just stay on your birds. Me and Sergeant Noh will just go and talk to them about what to do."  
"What, me?" Noh asked.  
"Yes Noh. This is your job remember."  
The Samsons landed on the forest floor with a small thump. Alex made sure that his gun was holstered properly before hopping the chopper and walking over to the Na'vi. He saw a familiar face amongst the group  
Jake Sully, the chieftain of the tribe, stepped forward and extended a hand. He looked far more relaxed than when Alex last saw him. His face looked lighter, less tense and less burdened. Maybe he was just in a good mood, but Alex felt that Jake had got something off his chest a while ago. He was joined by the Tsahik, or matriarch of the tribe, Mo'at.  
"I see you Alex." Jake warmly greeted.  
"It's good to see you Chief." Alex shook his hand. Noh trotted up beside him.  
"And it's nice to see you as well Noh."  
"Right... you too Jake."

They talked for a few minutes about what was going to happen for the day. The general concession was that the scientists and their escorts were to be allowed to wander around the Hometree's outskirts. Almost all of the Na'vi would be able come and talk to them about anything that they wanted, be it questions or stories, or just general banter. Children would be accompanied by their parents. Then Alex made a big request.  
"Chief, Carnegie wants to take a good look at the Tree of Souls in order to prove something."  
Jake stiffened. "The Tree's off limits to outsiders Alex. Like sky people, you know this."  
"Then how the hell did you get close to it, you're a..." Noh had begun; quickly realising he was off guard. "Sorry, WAS a human."  
"Long story 'pal'..." Jake answered icily at Noh. "Anyway, you still can't go. It's several miles away and I kind of planned everything to happen here."  
"I know, but aside from the good doctor wanting to take a look, there's another problem that I need to talk to you about." Alex cut in.  
"What's the problem?"  
"Okay, first things first Mo'at, has this tribe ever been visited by a missionary?"  
Mo'at drew a blank. "What is a 'missionary'?"  
Noh gave her one of his characteristically smartass answers. "Basically, they're the guys who go to any place which isn't their religion, preferably tribal, and try to make the people believe in whatever the hell god the missionary believes in." He paused for a second. "Usually with promises of eternal pain and suffering if they don't do so."  
Mo'at gave Noh a strange look. "Just when I thought your people couldn't get anymore strange..."  
"Yeah we got experience in being that..." Noh agreed.  
"So let me guess." Jake began. "You brought along a missionary to try to convert my people?"  
Alex suppressed a smile. "I did bring him along yes..."  
"It's not happening Garnett."  
"My people believe in Eywa." Mo'at began with resentment in her voice. "We talk to her, and _she talks back._ Even I know that your 'god' doesn't do that. Why should we agree to listen to this man?"  
"Well, Father Byron might have come here with the intent to convert, but he's such a nice guy back home." Alex answered rubbing the back of his head. "It would have broken his heart to just deny him this chance considering how he helps out everyone."  
"We still can't agree to him."  
"I'm not asking you to." Alex continued. "That's why I'm mentioning this with my request to visit the Tree of Souls..."

* * *

Ar'kadi was watching the humans talk to the chieftain and the Tsahik with the rest of the Na'vi when Shee'kana brushed up alongside.  
"So, what are they talking about?"  
Ar'kadi furrowed his head. "I don't know... I can't hear them from over here."  
"What's the plan then?"  
Ar'kadi gave an exasperated sigh. "Don't you ever listen when someone important talks?"  
"Sometimes. Not today."  
Ar'kadi grumbled a little. Shee'kana was his friend there was no doubt about it. But there were times in which her hyperactive, cheerful persona just felt inappropriate.  
"Well... too bad, I can't be bothered explaining right now."  
"Really?"  
"Really."  
There was a pause between the two of them as the higher ups kept talking.  
"How do those things work?" Shee'kana asked suddenly.  
"What things?"  
"You know, the _kunsips, _the machines, the chopper... whatever you call them."  
"Does it look like I know?"  
"You're the engineer."

Ar'kadi was just about to answer when the humans broke off from talking at started to shout something to the rest of the humans waiting on the _kunsips_. Jake and Mo'at walked back to the others.  
"It's done. Let's lead them Home now." He turned to Shee'kana. "Could I have a word with you for a second?"  
As the others went over to the humans, Jake led Shee'kana a little way off the path. "Is there a problem chieftain?"  
"Yes there IS a problem." He started reproachfully. "You shouldn't have scared the humans when they were coming over like that."  
"I was just having a little bit of fun..."  
Jake forcefully grabbed her arm. "What the hell do you think this is? A game?" He snapped. "They could have thought you were about to attack. They could have shot you!"  
Shee'kana stumbled for words. "I...I'm sorry chieftain."  
"Next time, THINK first."  
"Yes chieftain."  
Jake let go. He started to calm down a little.  
"Right, well... that's it." He looked back to the others. "You go ahead. I'll catch up soon."  
"Yes Jake. I'm sorry."  
"It's okay, it's okay." He looked at her in the eyes. "Hey, don't be so glum. Enjoy the day."

As Shee'kana jogged back to the group, Jake went and sat on a tree trunk. He just needed breather, that was all. He'd catch up when-  
"_Well aren't you touchy right now"_ the Voice slithered. _"I think you nearly bit her damn head off. You do that to everyone?"_  
Jake already knew that no one was there.  
He was starting to get sick of this; he needed to talk to Mo'at about it sooner or later. Maybe she could help.  
"Maybe I do need to mellow out a little..." he muttered, before heading back for the Hometree.  
As he walked home, a woodsprite floated down. The seed of Eywa drifted along, like a tiny jellyfish in a sea of green. It started to drift towards Jake as he walked.  
But when it came near him, it twitched violently. For a brief second, it flashed red. And then it fell to the ground.  
Jake didn't see it. The forest did.

* * *

The day went by with quite smoothly. The humans had been gathered at the foot of the great Hometree, where Na'vi came to see them to ask questions and exchange stories. At one point, Dr. Carnegie told Alex that the Na'vi were more relaxed and at ease with the humans than in old scientist visitations. When Alex asked why, Stan attributed it to the fact that the humans weren't wearing exo-masks anymore, or hiding behind an avatar. This made them far more relatable for the Na'vi to talk to. "Makes us look more human if you pardon the pun."  
The Na'vi would tell stories about their tribe, show them around the Hometree and give the humans advice on how to live on the land. In return the humans told their own stories and histories, and did their absolute best to try to explain how bits and bobs of machines work. The humans were given a small clearing to rest at, where the Na'vi had put out a bunch of mats and rugs for the humans to rest and sit on. Sometimes a bunch of scientists and militia escorts would be led to see the great Mountain Banshee's and Dire Horses.  
Alex was pretty happy with the day so far. Noh was helping to translate the stories of the _Toruk Makto_ into English for his friends. Dwight was doing his best in showing a bunch of Na'vi warriors (including a man who Alex was pretty damn certain was Mu'kala) how his guns work. Jade was doing some freehand drawings of the Na'vi, which she was handing them out whenever she finished. And finally, Alex himself was translating for Father Byron. This was harder than it sounded. Alex was careful to try to make it sound to the Na'vi as if what Father Byron was talking about was the myths and legends of the Sky-People, and not at all like an attempt to convert them to Christianity.  
Then the sacred universal institution of Lunch came. Both sides were comparing the different foods of their people. The food that the humans had brought along was grown directly on Pandora, rather than some vat grown bulk food. Of course the Na'vi still couldn't eat it, but they were still interested in what it was.

* * *

While the two peoples were talking and eating altogether, Noh had just returned from a tree (the reasons being completely natural and still gross) when he ran into a familiar face.  
He was just heading back to the others when he felt someone's gaze upon him. It was a fairly common human instinct, but Noh's case was particularly fine tuned. It helped him a lot back in his old Army days when he could tell whether or not he was being tailed by the military police. He turned and saw a familiar Na'vi woman nearby. She immediately did her best to look as if she wasn't looking at him. He frowned.  
"Do I know you?" he asked in Na'vi. She was definitely familiar.  
Neytiri tried to back off. "You've got me confused..."  
"You're Jake's wife aren't you?"  
Neytiri gave in. "Yes."  
"Right. My name is Noh, good to see you."  
"And my name's Neytiri."

They talked about life on Pandora, on how Hometree and Hells Gate were faring. They chatted about their people and generally tried to steer the conversation away from big issues. Then Noh just couldn't suppress the question any longer.  
"So... I was wondering... How did you and Jake get together?"  
Neytiri cocked her eye.  
"Bad topic? Sorry it's just-"  
"No, I suppose it's an okay question..." she answered. "I sometimes wonder myself."  
"What, you got problems right now?"  
"No, no, no, it's just interesting how we got together that's all..." she gave a small smile.  
"Tell me about it. I got time."  
They went a little away from the rest of the group. They were still in sight, but out of earshot. That's where Neytiri told Noh the story of she and Jake got together.  
She started with that night in the forest, when she saw this idiot Na'vi trying to beat off a pack of viperwolfs with a torch. She went on about how she resented being told that she would have to teach this human copy of a na'vi the tribe's ways, she had better things to do. But then she told Noh how beneath that bull headedness and that stupid smile, there was actually a brave and noble man beneath. He was determined, caring and wasn't willing to back down.  
"As the months went on, started to grow to like him as a Na'vi, not some idiot dream-walker. I started to think he was the one for me."  
"Wasn't there anyone else?"  
"There was another man; Tsu'tey, but our relationship kind of went downhill as the days with Jake went by. I think he resented it. But I guess I was too love-struck to notice."  
"'Love-Struck?'" Noh asked cocking his eye in a slightly amused fashion.  
Neytiri play-hit his arm. "Oh what do you know about love?"  
"I know that I'm a very cynical man when it comes to it ma'am."  
Neytiri continued about their relationship. At the Tree of Voices, when Jake had learned everything there was to know, the moment he had made his feelings clear about her, was the one of the happiest in her life. She had found someone to be with. Then the RDA came and ruined it all.  
_Right, of course... _Noh thought dryly inside his head. _The evil corporate bad-guys have come in at this moment..._  
Neytiri went on to say that at that point Jake started to become more and more distant. Then just before the old Hometree burnt down, she found out why he was really there.  
"How did you feel?"  
"I felt betrayed."  
"Fair enough, I guess."  
She went on about how she felt when he revealed his true purpose as another RDA stooge. She didn't believe it at first. Especially considering how she thought he was her mate. She didn't want to see him again. Ever.  
"So what made you reconsider?"  
Neytiri told him about how Jake returned one day, riding a huge Toruk.  
"So... he tames a great beast... and suddenly he's your friend again?" Noh asked dubiously.  
"Of course not." Neytiri smirked. "But taming one of Toruk wasn't a mean feat. And he had come up with a good plan for fighting the RDA with the other tribes. We felt that he deserved another chance."  
"So what did get you back to him?"  
Neytiri thought for about a minute.  
"It was just after that bastard Quaritch finally died. I looked for Jake and I saw his body lying on the ground, near the broken shed. He wasn't moving. Then I was realised he wasn't even there." She paused. "Then I heard movement in the shed. I went to see."  
"What did you see?"  
"I saw this sky-man, choking and coughing on the ground. I thought it was Norm or someone else. I helped him breathe again, and recognised just who he was."  
She paused.  
"He looked so alike to the other self. I realised that I was holding the real Jake, not the body he used all the time. He was just recovering from near death, and his legs were useless, but he was alive.  
And then he looked into my eyes and greeted me."  
"And you lived happily ever after?" Noh smirked playfully.  
Neytiri sighed satisfactorily. "Yes smartass. We did. What do you think?"  
Noh was still interested in the story. He really was.  
"Relax Neytiri, it's all okay..." he paused for a second and gave a sly smile.  
"What?"  
"It reminds me of an old tale that's told in our own people." Noh said with nostalgia. "A man from another land journeys to this completely new land, and while he finds the world strange, he meets a native woman, who he journeys with. As the story progresses, they fall in love, and the guy ends up fighting for the woman's people as opposed to his own. Then they win over the invaders and they both live happily in wedded bliss."  
Neytiri smiled a little in realising how familiar it was. "Heh... I guess it does sound like my story..." she chuckled a little. "What was it called?"  
"Umm..._Pocahontas _I think..." Noh answered hazily. "It's pretty old."

Neytiri felt better, now that she could actually talk to someone who regarded themselves as an equal. It felt refreshing compared with the people she already knew.  
"Alright then smartass." She crossed her arms in superiority. "What's your story?"  
"It's not much."  
Noh told her on how he always grew up as an outsider. His parents hated each other's guts after they moved town, so he always kept out of the house. But he could never fit in with the crowd. All he could do was watch and learn from the people around him.  
"The more I did it, the more I realised that people were never what they said they were."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean, I once saw this priest. He was this big shot among his own people, he always preached chastity and whatever, but I always saw him go into the brothels."  
"Brothels?"  
"Uh... let's just say he was doing the opposite of chastity. Anyway, the more I watched people, the more I realised just how many liars and hypocrites there were out there...  
But don't get me wrong, I saw a lot of unsung heroes as well. People who showed mercy to others, who went to help the needy and who stood up for the downtrodden. And some of these people were thought to be scumbags. They were sometimes whores, and thugs and thieves. I realised that they were the real Chieftains of Humanity."  
"How did you get here?"  
"I joined the Army because there wasn't much else on offer in terms of jobs. Then I got kicked out for my snarky and charming attitude." He paused for a second. "And for that Mech incident..." he added quietly. "I was looking for a new job, maybe in the merc business, when I saw an ad for the new Colony starting on Pandora. They were looking for AMP drivers, so I dropped my name. Really, it was more of joke. I was an Army reject and the waiting list went all other the world.  
So I wound up practically crapping my pants when I got the message that I had been accepted." He shook his head. "I met Alex in training after we stole rations from the Mercs and we've been friends since. I then came here." He sighed. "And that's the story of my life."  
Neytiri watched the human for a while.  
"You don't seem like such a bad guy."  
"Oh that's a load of crap." He shrugged. "I'm just some joker who got here on what's probably pot luck and saw a lot of weird stuff. That's it. I'm nobody special."  
They talked a little while longer. Their discussion drifted to friends and family.  
"I saw that you had a kid when I was here last time."  
Neytiri smiled down warmly. "That'll be Miri." She got the fuzzies. "She's a bundle of joy that never ceases to give."  
"She's certainly brave, I'll give her that." Noh smiled.  
"Well, she's always been curious about everything, always asking questions, always wanting to know why, and how..." she cocked her eye. "Sometimes she's a little TOO curious..."  
"Well I don't know anything about kids ma'am... But it looks like you raised her well."  
"Why, thank you..." Neytiri smirked.  
"How's Jake by the way?"  
Neytiri looked hesitant for a while.

"Is there a problem?" Noh asked worried.  
"No, no, no... " She warmed back up a little. "I just worry about him that's all."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I just think he's more... I don't know... burdened." She said with a little concern. "He's found more time to be with us, and he's loved by all, but he just seems to be more weathered nowadays." She sighed "He seems more and more distant. Like he's lost."  
She looked at Noh. "It seems that ever since your kind showed up again, he's been this way."  
The human before him thought for a minute. Neytiri could tell that it was real thought, and not someone pretending to listen.  
"I think it sounds like he needs support now, more than ever." He started. "But the problem, is that he doesn't think he can share his problems. So he tries to distance himself because he thinks he can solve the problem himself." He paused. "I think the best thing that you can do right now, is just to keep persisting. Just keep trying to break through to him. You'll get there, I know it."  
"What makes you so sure that you know that will work?" Neytiri asked with suspicion.  
"Because Garnett went through that period. And if some asshole can help him, so can you."  
Neytiri felt touched. This _tawtute _actually had sound advice. He may be a snarky, cynical bastard, but at the same time, he was one of the most empathetic people she knew.  
"Well... thanks for the advice..."  
The human shrugged in his exo-suit. "I'm just sharing my thoughts ma'am."  
"Thanks all the same." Neytiri gave a smile. "May you..."

Something caught her attention. It was a pair of woodsprites, the Atokirina, drifting through the forest. The thing about them was that they were stopping right near Noh. It was as if they were encircling him. Almost like a halo.  
She'd seen such a thing before. That night, when she met Jake for the first time, she was ready to just ditch him and leave him for the animals. But then the woodsprites came. They gathered around Jake, settling on him. It couldn't have been some freak accident, it was important. So she took him to the Hometree. And that's how it all started.  
They always say that the woodsprites were Eywa's way of communicating out of Worldmind. It was Eywa's way of showing her that Jake was different from the other dreamwalkers. Maybe it was the same with this human.  
"Is there a problem?" asked Noh.  
One of the woodsprites drifted onto his shoulder. The other ones kept encircling him. He took notice of the one on his shoulder.

And then he smacked it with a mechanized hand, crushing it. It dropped to the ground. The other ones peeled off.  
"You were saying?" he said conversationally.  
Neytiri sighed sadly. "Nothing... I think we better head back now."


	13. Chapter 13: Secrets

"Doc?" Alex asked. "Mo'at says that it's time."  
"What? Oh right…" the weathered doctor turned to two of his subordinate scientists. "We're in luck lads." He smiled brightly as he got up.  
"We're seeing the Tree of Souls?"  
"That's right Gomez my good man…" Carnegie beamed.  
As Carnegie assembled a group of scientists, Alex started to walk over to Father Byron. The priest in question was checking a passage from the hard cover (and expensive) Bible that he had while he was having a rest amidst the meeting with the humans and the tribe. He looked like his usual self.  
"Hey, Byron?"  
"Yes?" the priest asked, slapping his book shut.  
"Stan's going off to see the tribe's holy site." Alex began awkwardly. "I would like you to go with them."  
"But I have barely had the chance to spread the word of God."  
"Dude, I've been translating for you all day." Alex replied testily. "I think the Na'vi have got a good idea about this 'God' guy." He looked back to check the others. Wikus was there, talking to the Na'vi with the help of Noh about what flying was like with a beast rather than a machine. One of the Na'vi was showing Emile some of the herbs that could be used to stave off bleeding and finally Jade was being shown some of the pots and crafts that the Na'vi made. Everything was still good.  
"Anyway, you'll get to see the Tree." Garnett continued. "From what I heard, it's pretty impressive."  
"If you say so my child." He said in a grumbling way.  
Byron wasn't a bad man in the Alex's mind. He just didn't quite understand the world around him. He was such a friendly and helpful man back at base, namely in that he was a good counselor and didn't force his views upon over people. It pained Alex to do this to him.  
Carnegie and his men, who were soon joined by Mac, Dwight and Byron, along with a few other militia men assembled where the some Neytiri and some Na'vi men and women led them back to the choppers, where they would fly to the tree.

As they walked off back into the bush, a familiar voice came from behind Alex, which caused him to nearly jump out of his skin.  
"How's things going back home?"  
Alex turned around and looked up to see Norm. He was accompanied by his wife, Ellen. They wore heavily stripped down, torn and tattered variants of old human fatigues which had been lovingly cared for, which all the same, gave them the look of ship wreck survivors.  
"Jesus!" Alex twitched. "You scared the living shit out of me!"  
The big people smiled. "You guys never keep your eyes open." Ellen shrugged.  
"Well what I still don't get is how the hell you guys are better sneaks than us." Alex said shaking his head. "I mean, you're twice as big as us, you're blue and you friggen glow in the dark. How?"  
"Well, we've all been living here in the bush longer than any of you guys ever have."  
"Yeah… all right… How's life holding you guys up?"  
They chatted around for a while longer. Things had been going good for the Spellman's and the other scientists. The Omaticaya had been good to them as they had made good doctors and storytellers. They hadn't just survived on the land of Pandora, they thrived.  
_I hope my own people can do the same._ Alex wondered in his head.  
Ellen was good woman. She had stayed behind with the other scientists to study and live with the Na'vi. She knew humans would come back to collect the research data at some point. From the times Alex had talked to her at the base, she had come off as a spirited and intelligent woman.  
"Listen Norm, can I ask you something?"  
"Sure, what's up?"  
"I know you've talked to Carnegie a lot about this… but what can you tell me about the Worldmind?"  
The two scientists looked at each other.  
"Where did you hear about that?" Norm asked in surprise.  
"I heard about it from the white-coats." Alex shrugged. "It's my job to know this stuff."  
That was a half-truth. The liaison only needed to know about Na'vi culture. He didn't need to know biology.  
"Well, I can tell you right now that it's all around us as we speak." Ellen said. "Know what I'm saying?"  
"Sorta…"  
"Listen, could you come with us?" Norm motioned off to the bushes. "I want to show you something."

* * *

Jake was showing Mo'at some of Jade's sketches of life back on Earth when he saw an unusual sight: an RDA mercenary mingling amongst the humans.  
He was talking to some of the Na'vi while being roughly translated by one of the militia. As he looked closely, he could see that he was a pilot who must have walked out from the choppers over to the Hometree. With his green fatigues and exo-mask, he stuck out like a green thumb on a mechanic.  
After he was finished talking to them, Jake left Mo'at and walked over to greet this anomaly. The pilot was soon finished talking with the others.  
"You don't look like militia." He said to the pilot.  
The man turned around up to Jake. He looked like a veteran, not the crazy Vietnam vet kind, but the good, adventurer kind. He was weathered, experienced, but always up for some more.  
"That's right. I'm just a company man." The pilot extended his hand experimentally. "Wikus. Wikus Bezuidenhout."  
They talked for a while about themselves and life in general. The usual.

"So how's life back on Earth I wonder?"  
"What do you think?" the pilot cocked his eye.  
"Is anything different since you guys left?"  
"Well, now that you mention it… there were a few things that got shook up."  
"In a good or a bad way?"  
"I think in a good way for you guys. I think." Wikus said thoughtfully. "After the whole Hallelujah disaster, when all of the RDA came back from being kicked off world, people started wanting answers. The company of course gave their own explanation for what had happened, but nobody trusts megacorp PR. They said that they were back-stabbed by the ruthless Jake Sully, dealt a dirty underhanded defeat and forced to abandon the planet all together."  
Jake gave a smirk at his description.  
"But there were just too many witnesses in the whole operation. Too many mercenaries with wet tongues, too many mine workers angry about their lack of medical compensation and too many bitter, jaded scientists. It didn't take a detective to know that there was more to the whole operation than RDA let on. There was a lot of pressure from UNDETA and the Corporate watchdogs to try to find out what had happened."  
"So there was an investigation?"  
"I was getting to that man. When the RDA came back, a lot of the ultra-nationalists, military guys and companies were flaming about going back to Pandora to reassert control of the blue savage. But the problem was, is that the tide of public support was going against them. Cause was providing far more concise evidence than R-"  
"Wait, who's 'Cause'?"  
"Hm? Oh, they're this environment organization that started up a while back. They're trying to defend Pandora from the human greed and the human ignorance and all that bullshit…"  
"You don't think highly of them?"  
"Nah, they're a bunch of treehugger hippies really. They're, like, a worse version of the old Greenpeace since they're always in your face, always on about greed, always going on about how the Na'vi are angels compared to the human race and stuff like that." He muttered dubiously. "Rude too. Few like them."  
"Are they all like that?"  
"Oh no, there a bunch of other activist groups who are much better who joined in the fight, so yeah, it's all good, it's sweet… Anyway, the activists had better evidence on what was going on, so before you know, there are huge demonstrations against the RDA. Then there was you."  
"Me?"  
"Well, the corporations all tried to paint you as a traitor, but you've kind of become a bit of a folk-hero back home."  
"Really?"  
"Yep. Think it's got something to do with fighting off the Corporation, just like a hero in a movie."  
He gave a smile. "You should be proud of yourself. You inspired a lot of people."  
Jake gave an almost shy smile.  
"Anyway, the UN is on the RDA's asses right now. There's even talk of repealing the Interplanetary Commerce Administration and putting the entire Magnium op under United Nations jurisdiction. Like that's ever going to happen…"  
"Well… why don't the governments just take control of everything from the RDA and send their own troops in?"  
Wikus looked at Jake like a teacher was to a particularly stupid student.  
"You're kidding me right?"  
"Well, I'm sure the governments would want to control this than-"  
"Shit no Jake." Wikus interrupted. "They _want_ us mercenaries here. They're _glad_ we are here." He said with cold power. "Because if we weren't, they'd have to come and do the entire job themselves with their own resources." He looked at the others. "It would be a thankless, worthless, bloody job and once the body count started to rise, they're screwed. Any casualties here on the moon would be trumpeted by media."  
"So?"  
"So once that happens, the public opinion would just shift away from the governments and even the UN. A dead kid from the States would garner more public attention than the fifty or so Na'vi he'd be protecting. So even if they did give a big enough shit, their own media prevents them from paying any meaningful cost."  
"What if the UN takes control?"  
"They don't have the resources to do any mining. They got the manpower and the administration, but they don't have near enough money to build new starships, even with the newer faster models. The only way forward for them would be to take one from the RDA, but those guys would have to have done something really bad for that to happen.  
That's why the RDA still runs this town. Unobtainium has become the new lifeblood of Earth. We _need _it to survive. In the biggest machine in the history of humanity, we're the necessary evil."

* * *

Alex was being led a short way through the bush, chatting to Ellen and Norm as they went. He trusted Norm enough to know he wasn't being into a trap, so he didn't feel nervous about what was happening.  
"Okay Alex, here we are."  
Alex regarded what he saw with intense curiosity. It was an old, prefabricated scientist's outpost. It looked well cared for, but the time on Pandora was taking its toll on it. It was rusted, the windows were replaced with canvas awnings and the walls were covered in vines. It also looked like an AMP went and took a sledge to one of the walls.  
"What is it?" Alex asked.  
"It's our old science outpost." Norm answered "We used this place as an uplink site for our Avatar's, as well as general sight-seeing."  
"Looks a bit battered."  
"Yeah, let's just say this was a key place in the Hallelujah battle. We moved it when we shifted home."  
"You live here?"  
"Nah, we just put all of our science stuff here." Ellen answered. "Come on."  
They walked over to the hut. Before he climbed the stairs to the front door, he noticed a carved stone placed near the entrance on the forest floor.  
'In loving memory of Grace Augustine.'  
It didn't look like a grave stone, Alex thought as he wiped his feet before entering the hut, but the name definitely rang a number of bells inside his head.  
When he entered the hut, the first thing he noticed was that the roof had been altered big time to accommodate the Na'vi. It looked as if someone had cut it off, put scrap metal on the cut, and then put the roof on again. Despite looking a little haphazard, the rest of the hut looked quite homely. The old metal and plastic tables and lockers had been used in the roof modification, and had been replaced by wooden benches and tables of both human and Na'vi size. They were covered in a huge variety of papers, books, equipment, trinkets and plants. Tapestries and wall awnings lined the walls, and the floor was covered in homemade rugs. With the papers scribbled with various notes and formula, the place all cluttered up, and strange equipment everywhere, it made Alex think that this was what a wizards study, or an alchemist's lab should look like.  
"Over here Alex." Ellen said as she went to the desk. She fumbled with an old computer and started to bring up a few files.

They spent the next fifteen minutes going over The Worldmind. Alex was constantly asking questions about the subject: how powerful was the signal transduction? Are there any particular strongpoints? What animals were most under its influence?  
"You seem pretty interested in the topic Alex…" Norm muttered with curiosity.  
"What's wrong with that?" Alex shrugged.  
"It's just that I've seen few humans interested in Eywa and stuff…"  
Then the two scientists got a question that stumped them.  
"Is it wireless?" Alex asked.  
Norm gave a blank look. "You know… I'm not sure… it's theoretically possible that it happens, but I don't think it would be powerful enough to directly-"  
Before they could go on any further, a voice called out from outside to the scientists.  
"Hey Ellen! Norm! Some of the other guys want to see you about something."  
"Ah crap…"  
"What's going on?" Alex asked, getting off from his oversized chair.  
"It's probably just my friend Max. He came back a while ago from the Khalistheya tribe and he's just getting used to the new management." He and Ellen started to get up and leave the hut. "Look, could you just wait here for a minute? We'll be back here in a bit."  
"What? Uh… okay…"  
Before he could do anything the scientists had left Alex alone.  
Now he was all alone in the science hut. Just him, the birds in the trees, various piles of paper and whatnot (where they managed to find paper after six years was beyond him). He started to look around at everything. Not that he was being nosy, he was just bored. He couldn't find anything suspicious, although he did find a broken rubix cube shattered into many pieces. It looked like the concept didn't go down well with the Na'vi.  
He drifted back to the computer. It was well cared for in the Pandoran world and it clicked back into life after Alex fiddled with the piteously obsolete mouse. He shook his head, "Give me a holo any day…"  
There wasn't much on the desktop to look at, only a few links about scientific recordings and a shortcut to minesweeper. He was about to click on that when one of the shortcuts caught his eye.  
'Video Logs: Sully, J.'  
Alex went and opened the folder. He started up the first one on the list.

* * *

"Where's Garnett?" Dwight asked Jade.  
"Oh, he passed by me a while back, said he was going to see something. I'm sure he's okay."  
"I hope so…"  
The sun was starting to set in the horizon, and human and na'vi alike were doing what they've been doing for the most of the day. Someone had started up a campfire in the clearing. There was a great peaceful vibe going around.  
"They certainly live happily, don't they?" Mac said with nostalgia. "Kind of reminds me of those Cause guys back home."  
"What, you mean those pagan hippies?" Noh muttered.  
"Well, no not like those guys now that you mention it." Mac muttered scratching the back of his head. "You don't like Cause?"  
"Nah dude. I've always hated it when they try to be something they don't really understand." Noh answered. "And face it, all the talk you hear about their way of life in terms of 'being one with nature' and solstices and what not usually just boils down to sex, drugs and violence." He paused for a moment. "Usually at the same time."  
Then a few of the na'vi started to show the humans a dance. It was something beautiful, hard for the humans to describe. The song that went with it was something about giving thanks to the earth for their bounty. It flowed with grace that was hard to imitate.  
When it was over, one of the dancers; a young woman, who Noh identified as Shee'kana, seemed to give the humans the impression that could not do anything that amazing. It was an unusual display of pride. Unfortunately for the woman, one of the humans cocked their eye at this.  
Emile raised a hand and his finger to get silence from the entire crowd. He was completely silent. When the crowd was paying attention to Emile, curious as to what he would do, he started to take a mouthful from an over the shoulder flask. He didn't swallow it; he just held it in his mouth. He took a small fire lighter from his vest. The humans looked a little shocked.  
"Emile, what the hell are you doing with the paraffin-"  
Before they could say anything else, huge gouts of flame surged from Emile's mouth. The flame fanned forward, making a few na'vi to scatter back in fright, and causing screams of shock from all around. The once cocky young woman cowered back in fear. Then the flame vanished as it quickly as it appeared. Then all of the humans started whooping with joy and laughter.  
"That's fire-breathing!" Emile shouted more alive than ever, fires blazing in his eye. "Beat that!"  
He took another swig.

* * *

Alex took his datapad out of the computer after the download was complete. He had the entire archives with him, every video log Sully had ever made. The question that Alex was asking himself, was why.  
Why on Earth was he being so subversive and doing this?  
He couldn't answer himself. It was just something he felt that he needed to do.  
"Hmm… the Spellman's aren't back yet." He muttered. He looked outside the hut and was completely surprised to see, wait for it… a garden gnome. At first he thought that he was seeing things, but after he poked his head out the window in disbelief, he saw that it was a haphazard construction of baked mud, painted in crude colors. It must have been made by some children.  
Alex stared at the construction for a minute before saying "I guess it's just you and me shorties in a crazy world of giants huh?"  
The gnome gave the expectant answer of total silence.  
Alex shook his head and pulled his head back inside. There wasn't much else to do. He was about to go on the computer to play some minesweeper, when he saw something on a shelf that he failed to notice before.  
It was bunch of old photographs, tacked to a small wooden frame. All of them more or less showed the same thing. Na'vi children, at what seemed to be, an old school of all places. They were doing things you'd come to expect of kids in a human primary. There were pictures of kids painting with their hands, kids learning the alphabet, writing, playing games or just smiling at the camera. The thing was, is that these pictures were not of this generation of Na'vi, and more importantly, there seemed to be this avatar woman with them, who Alex guessed was their human teacher. She seemed familiar. Somehow.  
They were pictures of children anyway.  
That took Alex back.

* * *

"_Alex!" the voice cried. "Alex!"  
The door opened up in the darkness. A young man, wearing his casual clothes, squinted his eyes into the dark of the bedroom.  
"What's the problem sis?" he asked in dozed fashion.  
"I don't like the dark, it's scary." The young girl said. "Could you turn the lights back on please?"  
"Mmf… fine…"  
Alex flicked the switch on the bedroom wall. The light from the one lamp on the ceiling cast shadows across the room.  
They had been lucky to find this apartment. Even after graduating into the Toronto District Police Department and getting his first real paycheck, they had been hard pressed to find a decent place to rent. Space was at premium on Earth. The rich lived in great arcologies with everything they desired at their grasp while the poor lived in dilapidated towers where getting your stuff stolen was a matter of life or death. The East Coast Sprawl was no different. Alex couldn't believe that he managed to find a decent apartment for himself and his sister.  
Decent however, was a relative term in a world in which standards were slipping. It was two bedroom, one living room sash kitchen with barely enough room for visitors, and a toilet. Nowadays with clean water being a more sought after commodity, people tended to go to public bathhouses to wash. The walls were cheap concrete, with the odd cheap wall hanging put up by Alex and Michelle to try to brighten the place, they had a cheap projector instead of a real holo, the furniture had seen better days, and fridge didn't always work. Alex had also invested a little money into getting some decent soundproof curtains to blackout the constant light from the outside city. By 21__st__ century western standards, this was poverty. In the 22__nd__, this could be seen as middle class._

_"Thanks Alex." The little nine year old girl in the bed smiled. "Could you leave them on?"  
Alex sighed. "Listen Michelle… You're gonna have to learn how to cope with the dark, it's not that bad."  
"But I hate the dark." The girl moaned. "I can't see anything in it, and I think there's monsters in it."  
"Ah jeez…" Alex muttered. He was quiet for a bit as thought about what he should do.  
Then he turned off the lights, and sat down on the bed. "Michelle, listen." He began gathering his strength. "Darkness isn't a bad thing. It isn't good, true, but it's not really what you'd call evil or anything right? It just is."  
"But isn't light better than the dark?"  
"Normally so. But too much light, and it blinds you. And if you come to rely on it too much, you're blind when it's taken away from you."  
"Can't we just have light and no dark at all?"  
"It's never worked that way." Alex's eyes adjusted to the dark by this time. He could see his little sister listening. "Put it this way, if there was never a dark, how would you know what light was? If there was no 'hot', how would you know what 'cold' was?" He focused into her eyes. "You can't have one thing without the other. It's called harmony."  
"Harmony?"  
"Yeah… I heard it from this tai chi guy…. Anyway, things are all good and in harmony, if things are balanced."  
"Does that include good and bad?"  
"No. Good and bad change depending on the balance. If things are not balanced, bad stuff happens. Simple."  
There was silence.  
"The darkness doesn't seem so bad right now." The girl said. I can see you now."  
"That's your eyes getting used to the dark." Alex smiled. "It comes to you after a while in the dark. It happens to all of us."  
"I think I can still see some monsters though."  
Alex twisted around to check his surroundings. As he expected, there was nothing hiding in the dark.  
"I can't see them."  
"I can."  
The brother sighed and thought for a bit.  
"Okay, those monsters that you see?" he began reassuringly.  
"Yeah?"  
"They're really scary aren't they?"  
"Yep."  
"They're trying to scare you aren't they?"  
"Yes."  
"Well that's the thing 'Chelle." He smiled. "That's all they _can_ do."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Those monsters will try to scare you all the time, but they cannot actually hurt you." He continued. "They may look like they're going to eat you, but they will never succeed. That's because they can't actually do anything to you. Scaring is the only thing they can do." Alex's voice started to take a heroic tone. "So if one of those monsters sitting in the shadows try to eat you, you just tell them that you know that they can't touch you."  
"Okay Alex!" Michelle agreed brightly, having regained her confidence.  
"Atta girl!" Alex smiled. He took a glance around. "If you want, I could tell you a bedtime story until you're too tired to see the monsters?"  
"Can you?" she almost squealed.  
"Yep." Alex got up and flicked the light back on. They darkness was banished to the Dread Reaches of Behind the Furniture. "What story do you want to hear?"  
"Can you tell me the story of Ashitaka and San again?"  
"You love that one don't you?" Alex smiled. "That's okay. I do too."  
Alex had learned the tale from an old Japanese animated movie called 'Princess Mononoke'. It was an old 20__th__ century film about a young man who was cursed by a demon, and winds up stopping a war between the human metalworkers and the spirits of the forest, and making friends with the human Wolf-girl San. It was a beautiful story. He liked it because it wasn't about good versus evil. It was about nature versus machine. The thing was, is that humans got to live in harmony with the forest as opposed to being utterly defeated. Both sides had learned to live together, not destroy each other. He liked that part.  
He also liked how the 'Princess' of the movie was an aggro, feral girl raised by wolves, who in the beginning, almost slashed the hero's throat as opposed to being your average heroine, but that was another thing.  
He had just reached the part when the hero Ashitaka first meets San, when he realized Michelle had fallen fast asleep. He got up, flicked the light off, closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief.  
At least she didn't ask for the story about the wolf that wore human skin. That story gave him nightmares._

* * *

"I see you." An innocent voice greeted in Na'vi.  
Alex turned to the entrance and was totally surprised to see a familiar na'vi child sitting on the table. She was close to Alex's height and she was the typical garb of a na'vi child. Alex knew who she was though.  
"I've met you before right?" Alex asked carefully in na'vi.  
The child nodded.  
"You're Jake's kid right?"  
The child nodded again. "That's right."  
"What are you doing here?"  
The girl gave a happy 'don't care' shrug. "I wanted to see you."  
"Why me?"  
"Because I've seen you before."  
"That it?"  
"Well Hesh'ka didn't let me near your friends." She pouted. "She's so boring…. And creepy."  
Alex remembered the Na'vi woman he once saw during his first night with the Na'vi, along with Noh. She certainly made a mark in his memory.  
"Then how did you get away?"  
"Hesh'ka thinks that I'm playing with my friends." She smiled mischievously. "I'm not."  
Alex grunted an uncertain reply. He had no idea on how to handle her.  
"Well… what do you want to talk about?"  
"What's your home like?" she asked casually.  
Alex gave a long thought about this. He needed to condense this into a way that she would understand. This wasn't going to be easy.  
"Well… In the old days, it used to be like this world." He began. "It was green and full of life, and we lived in harmony with the world."  
"Did you have animals like us?"  
"Sort of. There used to be great grey beasts with snouts that worked like arms called elephants, birds that could hover in one spot, perfectly still, and four-legged versions of dire-horses." He started.  
"Used to be?"  
Alex nodded sadly. "Yeah… they all started dying out though."  
"Why would Eywa let that happen?"  
"We don't have Eywa."  
"You didn't?"  
"Never."  
"Then who looks after your world?"  
"We do. We are the one and only masters of our world." He sighed. "And we're not very good at being that."

They talked on about the world called Earth. Alex told Miri that people became more and more adept at creating tools and technology, so as a result, they became the masters of the planet. But people had never truly learned to get along with each other. People always pursued old hates and bitterness, and they used their technologies to force their will open others. As time went on, their technologies gave them great power and riches, but it also altered the land in ways that the humans didn't truly understand. As time went on, the human's quest for power started to warp and change the land in negative ways. But greed and ignorance, as well as the desire for power and plain stupidity, meant that few people truly understood the consequences of their actions. As time went on, the great natural wonders faded away and vanished. The sea rose, becoming poisonous and toxic. The forests were cut down for space and fuel for the fires. The great beasts were hunted down and died out. And the air itself became filthy and poisonous. The world was warped into a twisted, toxic shadow of itself, forcing humanity to look to other worlds for survival.  
As Alex told these stories, Miri jumped to a conclusion. "All of this technology must be so _evil_ then…"  
"Evil?" Alex flashed angrily. Miri shied back.  
Alex softened. His voice took a mentors tone.  
"Miri, listen. Technology is like… fire." He got out a cigarette lighter (he didn't smoke, but it was better than matches.) and flicked a flame into existence. He held it toward Miri and shielded it from the wind. "It can be used for both good and bad things. Fire helps cook the food to keep your belly full. Fire keeps people warm at night; it helps light our way in the dark. Fire keeps you alive, but it can also kill you. Fire can burn forests to the ground, incinerate people and give them the most horrific of scars. One carelessly dropped flame, and everything you've ever loved could turn to ash."  
Alex drew the flame back to himself. Miri was almost hypnotized by the flame.  
"There are other things like fire. Take the bows of the hunters for example. They hunt the animals that you eat, that's true, but they are also used to kill other people for whatever reason the bowman might believe.  
And that's what tech is like. The guns that the soldier shoot can hunt animals as easily as it can kill people. The chopper can fly people around, or it can rain fire down upon a village. The potions created by the scientists can heal ailments, or they can poison people. At the end of the day, technology is neither good nor bad. It just depends on how it is used."  
Alex flicked off the flame. Miri's eyes looked back to his. "Do you understand?"  
Miri was silent for a while. "I think so."  
"Good. Take my advice kid. Try to get a better understanding of things before you make your judgment. Okay?"  
"Okay."  
They were silent as Miri reflected upon this. Alex realized that for a supposed six of seven year old, she was amazingly smart. She could have been mistaken for a ten or even twelve year old.  
Alex wondered if something made her mature more quickly than normal. She was certainly different than other na'vi. And that's when he finally saw the five fingers.  
"Well you're a little different from the others aren't you?"  
Miri noticed that he was talking about the hand, and was about to answer, when a cold voice sounded from the doorway.  
"What are you doing with her?" Hesh'ka accused.

Alex stiffened up as soon as he saw the woman. She was giving Alex the same look that he had received months ago back at the Hometree. It had left an imprint in his mind.  
She wasn't taking his eyes off of him. "Miri, come here right now." She said in a voice that disguised total rage.  
"But-"  
"Now."  
Miri got off the table that she was sitting on and walked towards the hulking woman. Hesh'ka told the child to go and wait outside.  
Alex further tensed. This was about to get ugly. His mind briefly flashed to the pistol he had on his leg holster, but he wasn't intending to use that. Yet.  
"What are you doing here?" she questioned, moving forward.  
"The Spellman's invited me here."  
"What were you doing with Miri?"  
"Talking with her. Is there a problem with that?"  
"What were you doing with her?"  
"She found me. Looks like she's a bit more adventurous than you thought."  
"She shouldn't be talking to you."  
"Yeah well, sounds like you haven't been keeping an eye on her enough." He shrugged. "That's slack."  
Alex knew immediately that he should not have said that. Hesh'ka started to encroach on his personal space. In the face of this, Alex folded his arms and stood his ground.  
"You should not be here." She snarled in his face.  
"Is that so?"  
"Your kind should not have come back here."  
"Well… Yeah you're probably right." He sighed. "But…" he shrugged. "Here we are."  
The woman started to get annoyed. That wasn't a good thing for Alex's life expectancy. Before the Tsahik could fire another question at him, Alex said right in her face "What's your problem with me?"  
The na'vi gave a spiteful smirk. "My problem isn't just with you, ass." She snarled. "It's with all of you _tawtutes_. Why don't you just leave my people alone? Why don't you just go back to wherever you came from?"  
"That's not going to happen." He said flatly.  
"You should." She muttered. "You've brought nothing but pain and destruction wherever your kind goes." She started. "You shoot the animals, you tear down the trees, you even throw down the flying mountains."  
Alex was examining his fingers. "So what have **I** ever done to you?"  
Hesh'ka examined his face. "I've learned that your kind is all the same underneath. That's a start."  
"On the contrary, we're more different from each other than you think." He answered. "That's why we hardly get along with ourselves. So how do you know that I'm your enemy?"  
The Tsahik was silent.

"Tell me, you're a Tsahik of a tribe that really doesn't like us." Alex began. "You really don't like Jake because you know that he's human underneath. If that's the case, why the hell are you so concerned about her daughter?"  
Hesh'ka was silent for a while, then gave an almost malicious laugh. It didn't sound good to Alex's ears.  
"That child is special, _tawtute_." She smiled.  
"Yeah, I kind of got the five finger thing on her." The human muttered. "Tell me something I don't know."  
"It isn't about those hands." She continued. "She is a child that has both the blood of the Na'vi, and that of the Sky-people running through her. That makes her special."  
"What, are you intending to try to barter her to us as a negotiating chip?" Alex said dubiously. "'Cause we don't really care about her in the larger scale of things."  
"Barter her?" she said in an amused fashion. "I don't intend to give her away at all." Then she gave an almost evil smile. "She's more powerful in ways that you cannot even dream about."  
_What?_  
Before Alex could snap a question or at the very least, some witty one liner, the door suddenly opened up to reveal the rushed face of Norm Spellman.  
"Sorry about taking so long Alex, I was-" He saw Hesh'ka's dreads. "Uh, Tsahik? I thought that you were watching the little ones?"  
Hesh'ka turned around, realizing that she was in a position of explaining to do. "I am watching the children." She answered politely. "But young Miri went off and I found her talking to this tawtute."  
"Then… why aren't you with her?"  
"What?"  
"She's watching the other humans right now, at the clearings." Norm continued. "Why aren't you with her?"  
Alex stepped out from behind the Na'vi and said in a critical and ironic voice "See? Slack."

* * *

The sun was setting over the trees that made up the horizon. This marked dinner in any and all cultures across the galaxy. Unfortunately, this was the time in which the humans had to leave for home.  
The humans were just waiting for their friends to come back from the Hometree. They were having their final conversations with the Na'vi about how the day was. All in all, Noh thought that for to opposing factions who had been at each other's throats six years ago, this had been a pretty good way to wipe the slate clean.  
But that was just wishful thinking. He saw that the old wounds still hadn't healed yet. He still saw dirty looks amongst the tribe from afar, still some bitter feelings. He knew that while there might have been a change in management, humans were still humans. They were liable to change. And the Na'vi knew that. He needed to warn his other friends about that sad fact.  
Still, at least this would bandage up the old wound.  
He looked amongst the tribesman and scientists and saw that Alex was talking to Jake about something or another. Being the nosy parker he was, he listened in.  
"Well… it was nice to have you as guests and visitors here." Jake seemed to reluctantly say.  
"Yeah. Listen, Jake…" Alex began. "I got something for you and your daughter."  
Jake frowned. "How do you know I have a daughter?"  
Alex gave a slightly exasperated look. "She kind of stuck out to me last time I was here, I'm not blind Jake." He grumbled. He took something out of a pouch on his back. It was a small book, manufactured at the colony by order. On it was the picture of what looked like a tribal mask.  
"What is it?"  
"It's called 'Princess Mononoke.'" Alex answered. "It's an old fantasy story. My little sister used to love it. I think your kid will to."  
"Hmm."  
"Just read it yourself." He sighed. "Trust me, you'll like it."  
As everyone was talking, Noh heard the familiar drone of a Samson. As he looked up he saw the shadow of the Tree of Souls expedition come over. Great beasts flew past and back to the Hometree. The Samson landed back on the clearing with the other craft but it kept its rotor running. They were of course, planning to leave soon.  
"Well, I guess it's time for us to go home." Noh said with some fatigue in his voice. "It was nice seeing you guys."  
"I guess this went well." Jake replied with some reluctance.  
Noh cocked his eyes. "You were expecting this to end in a bloodbath?"  
"Oh shut up you…" the chieftain grumbled.  
"Nice to see that you guys are getting along famously." Alex smirked. "But it's time to go."

* * *

As the Samson's faded away into the night, Miri watched them fall over the horizon. She had known from the start that the human called Alex was good. His aura was soft and peaceful, not violent and unpredictable like so many over humans. She also knew that there was something far more special about him, something that she had felt when she first linked with the Worldmind.  
Of course, she was just a child. 'So what did I know?' She thought. 'I'm just guessing.'

* * *

Alex checked his datapad for the last time. He saw that he still had the video logs of Jake Sully, and then he closed the thing up and put it back on the back of his vest. He couldn't explain exactly what drove him to copy information like that. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was a sense of cunning, but whatever it was, he just felt that it was something he had to know.  
He tried to think of something else to take his mind off those troubling thoughts. He was sitting on the chopper with Carnegie and Father Byron and a few other scientists and militia. Most of the guys were dozing off but Byron looked different. He was fully awake, which was unusual for a man of his age.  
"Penny for your thoughts Byron?" Alex asked curiously.  
"Take your penny and shove it."  
Alex's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets.  
When it looked like Byron wasn't paying attention anymore, Carnegie quietly whispered to Alex's ear "Forgive him, but I think he just had a crisis of faith at the Tree of Souls."  
"Uh-huh…"


	14. Chapter 14: Gathering Storm

[VIDEO LOG NO. 15]  
[DATE: 20.4.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]: "Hey diary, I thought I should talk to you about something.  
Last night, I decided to check up on Father Byron. He's hasn't really been the same since we all visited the na'vi a while back. He's been standoffish from everyone and he hadn't been outside his quarters for a while, so I decided to check up on him.  
When I went inside, I saw him head on his desk, bottle of whiskey in his hands. He'd been obviously drinking, but thankfully not enough to for him to be completely smashed. He told me to bugger off as soon as he saw that I was there, but I wasn't in the mood.  
So I asked him what his problem was. He said that he just found out that God didn't exist. He said that after he went to the Tree of Souls last week, he saw how the Na'vi was perfectly in tune with their spirit. He didn't quite explain it all to me, but he said that there was more evidence that this Eywa exists than there was that the one true God does. He added if that was the case, then what was the bloody point of him being here? There was no hope of him whatsoever of turning the Na'vi to God, they already had one.  
Well, I am happy to say that I managed to straighten him out. I reminded him that the human colony still needed a priest. Someone to look to for spiritual guidance. Someone to be the councillor. He shook his head when I asked him this, said that if he doesn't believe that God exists, then his heart wouldn't be into his duties.  
So I looked right into his eyes and told him that God does in fact exist. He asked me why I thought that. "Call it a hunch." I said.  
He looked at me for a while, right in the eyes. Then he said that he didn't know whether or not that I was telling the truth or just crazy.  
I saw him just today. I think he was returning to his former self. He was helping people and giving advice and whatnot and he also said that he was planning to drop his missionary plans. He said he now just wanted to focus his efforts at helping the colony.  
Guess there's hope for all."  
[END LOG]

[VIDEO LOG NO. 17]  
[DATE: 3.5.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]: "Hey Diary. A pretty funny thing happened today… Well, actually it was pretty horrible when it happened, but it was pretty funny in retrospect. No one got killed, so that's what counts.  
Anyway, I was just running a science foot expedition under one of the Militia captains, Ramirez his name was, along with a bunch of other militia guys and white coats. We had set off from the mines to gather some plant samples, or something like that, I can't quite remember what it was for. Anyway, we had set off into the jungle from the mine perimeter, in a single file line, with the Ramirez, the pointman, two of the scientists and some other militia guys in front, while the rest of us followed right behind, standard procedure. I myself was near the back.  
We had been carefully moving through the jungle, trying to not to attract attention, when suddenly, there was some kind of commotion at the front. Suddenly, the guys in front of me started to turn around and start running back. I thought something bad was happening, so I did the same, so did the guys behind me. We were all running like hell from whatever was in front. We all thought that it was something like a Thanator, or a herd of hammerheads. We weren't really talking, just shouting to run faster, back down the path we had made and hoping we could outrun whatever it was that was chasing us. We managed to make it back to the mines and we sprinted for the flooding ditches that had been dug a while back, where we hunkered down and browned our pants.  
It was horrible man. I swear to god that I thought we were all going to die. Then we looked over the trench and saw the couple of guys running haphazardly for one of the trenches that were filled with water.  
In the end, it turned out that the Pointman, Ramirez, a few scientists and another militiaman ran right into a pack of hellfire wasps.  
In our defence, I'd like to say that these were BIG ass wasps. I'm serious, they were the size of your friggen' fist man. We managed to drive the swarm off after the victims had dived into the water, but their faces had swollen up so badly that they looked like they were made of dough. They had to be hospitalized immediately.  
So we all live in a place where the insects, or hell, even the plants can kill you.  
Welcome to fucking Pandora."  
[END LOG]

[VIDEO LOG NO. 18]  
[DATE: 9.5.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]: "It's been an awesome day. We had just been beating those RDA mercenary 'Instructors' at their own game. During the training exercises out in the Murder Yard, we'd been beating their asses more and more consistently. In the old days, our win-loss ratio used to be 1 to 4. Now it's 5 to 1. We're kicking their asses, and I'm certain that it's not because they're going easy on us. We can ambush them in whatever terrain, and cut them down before they have a chance to take cover. We can take out armoured convoys from whatever the cover and tag them with rockets and our homemade sticky bombs. We can escape ambushes in light vehicles without too many losses. We're better at them in just about everything, even against superior odds.  
To be frank, I'm not sure why this is the case. I don't think it's just our exo-suits. Some of the mercs have started wearing them and carrying chainguns, but that isn't making a difference. Some of the mercenaries are more experienced in their field, but they seem to keep forgetting that our boys and girls used to be in the army as well, or in the police. I guess they taught them too well.  
The thing is, is that whenever someone asks us how we got so good, most of the guys say that they picked up a thing or two from the na'vi back at the Hometree. That's not a total lie. When we got back, some of my squad started to share what they had learned about survival and stealth from the Na'vi. More so, our boys seem to have learned a lot from patrolling the jungle and not getting killed. The same can't be said for the mercs. They seem to still suffer casualties whenever they go outside the wire. My boys and girls seem to have learned how to be one with the environment. Whenever I watch our exploits in training from observation, it's fantastic to see my brothers and sisters in arms stalk their opponents and take them out before they had a chance to fight back. Some of the colonists have been saying that one militiaman squad is now worth more than a company of mercs.  
The downside is that the mercs don't like it. Normally I wouldn't give a shit about what they think, but lately, they've been taking out their anger around them. During one of our exercises, one of our own got captured as a 'prisoner' for one of the scenarios. When they handed him back, he was covered in bruises and bandages and stuff. They said that he had 'fallen down the stairs.' In a one story mock up building. Sure he did. The guy didn't make a complaint, but we beat their asses in the next couple of rounds. Aside from that, they've been a hell of lot snappier to everyone. The soldiers that is, the aircrews are largely unchanged. More and more of them have been requesting transfers to Citadel base. No love lost."  
[NOH] (_Offscreen_) "At least these victories give us a reason to continuously get hammered at the Rec centre!"  
[GARNETT] "Amen to that!"  
[END LOG]

[VIDEO LOG NO. 19]  
[DATE: 13.5.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
(_Video log shows Garnett visibly bruised and battered)_  
[GARNETT]: "Well, it's been one total bastard of a night. You know that little rivalry between us militia and the mercs? It just reached boiling point.  
We were having dinner in the mess hall when it happened. From what I hear, one of the mercs was going on and complaining about how us militia were getting all the good stuff from all of the colonists, while they were starting to get the cold shoulder. I don't really remember the details, I was sitting at the other end when it happened and not really paying attention, but one of my guys; Sam, started to say something along the lines of "Well maybe you'd get more respect if you pulled your dicks out of the dirt" or something like that. It was at that point that the merc in question flicked out a balisong and stabbed the guy in the leg with it.  
It was at that moment that everything went to hell. Sam screamed when the knife was plunged in, but he surprised everyone, especially the merc, when he got up faster than you'd think and started breaking the bastards face in. Another one of the mercs tried to punch him off, but then Dwight went and smashed his head with a dinner tray. At that point, every mercenary and militiaman, myself included, joined the fight.  
I'm not quite sure how long it went on for. The main thing that I remember is introducing a mercs head to the table when I heard Halverson's warning gunshot. That was when the exo-suited mercenaries and militia in riot gear came in. The badly injured were hospitalized while everyone else was thrown into the brig. They had to separate us into two main cells to prevent us from killing each other all over again. We spent the next hour or so taunting and jeering at the opposing force, bruises and all. Then the brass walked in.  
I don't really need to go on about the grilling we got then. Of course both sides blamed each other, but the final verdict was that the guy with the balisong, who is in hospital by the way, would be kicked off. Everyone else got sentenced to cleaning up the mess hall, and then a god awful night of building a giant hill of sandbags. In the pouring rain. To make it even better, both the militia and the mercs had to work on a separate hill, when Halverson announces that the team whose hill was the first one to reach an announced height would get to go to bed, while the other team would have to take both hills down.  
Needless to say, we have never worked together so well before. And what matters is that we won.  
I myself have learned an important lesson today. The mercenaries are assholes."  
[END LOG]

[VIDEO LOG NO. 20]  
[DATE: 27.6.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]: "Hey diary. I've kinda noticed something with almost all of the colonists. I've noticed that everyone is starting to get taller, fitter, and slightly more slender. Everyone thinking that it's got something to do with both the gravity and the gene modding we've all had. I mean, no one has grown as big as a Na'vi yet, but they're certainly getting bigger than they used to. It's probably a side effect of the modding. Or maybe it's just the food. We've all been eating better for the past couple of months.  
Either the way, I'm not complaining. But the thing which I'm starting to notice most amongst the colonists, is the jump in confidence. When we first came here, everyone was nervous, everyone was scared of this planet and the na'vi and the whole big bad reputation of this place. Nowadays everyone does their job with pride and professionalism. But there seems to never be any cockiness. People have gotten smarter. They're careful out on the job, they seem to be more respectful to the land and they don't pick any fights with the na'vi whenever they meet.  
Hell, some of them have stopped referring themselves as Terrans and started calling themselves Pandorans. I hope it's not going to turn into some war of independence, but it's cool to see a bit of identity form."  
[END LOG]

[VIDEO LOG NO. 22]  
[DATE: 7.6.2160]  
[AUTHOR: WO GARNETT, A.]  
[RECORD]  
[GARNETT]: "There's been some new trouble with the Na'vi. Some of our lumberjacks over at the mines have been getting into some scraps with some Na'vi guys. They've had arrows shot near them whenever they go to mark trees for felling and they've had some of their gear tampered with, if not downright sabotaged. From the reports I've been getting, it sounds like both the Omaticaya and the Khalistheya tribes are involved.  
I'm heading over there along with Noh to try and sort the situation. With luck, we can remind the Na'vi that we had an agreement before hand to stick with the plantation. I'm hoping the lumberjacks are sticking with it themselves. If we're really lucky, we can sort out the problems before the Magellan comes in next week.  
_[Pauses]  
_Man my head's been hurting for a while… Ah well, I'm sure it's nothing. Anyway, I'll be heading over to the mines. It should just be yet another diplomatic thing. It might even be fun. Or not."  
[END LOG]


	15. Chapter 15: Warning

The bottle of whiskey on the table was slowly emptying. Whiskey and alcohol in general, was a very rare commodity on Pandora, as none of the humans had had the capacity for brewing yet. But the two drinkers didn't seem to mind. The bottle slowly emptied.  
The lumberjack crews had set up their plantation directly next to the mines. As well as being in the already existing protection of the mining base, the landscape was ideal for harvesting timber. The lumber yard itself was located inside the confines of the mines perimeter, and on the other side of the base laid the great hole in the ground that was the mines. The yard itself was comprised of a group of prefabricated buildings, comprising of offices, a small cafeteria, and various workshops. It was here that the humans would breakdown the Pandoran timber into planks and then treat it for storage. None of the lumberjacks had any of the monstrous Slash Cutter's that so typified human presence on Pandora. Slash cutters were used for clearing land, not harvesting timber. They would often rend the timber useless, and even if this wasn't the case, they often cut down trees far too quickly for the lumberjacks to keep up with.  
Although the chief export of the colony was Magnium, wood came at a close second. With most of the Earth's forest now eradicated or under total environmental protection, wood was a material that could fetch exorbitant prices on the market. Lumberjacks knew this, and prided themselves that they were delivering on one of the richest resources in the galaxy. Unfortunately, gone were the days of red tartan swandri's and hairy chests; all lumberjacks wore the standard colony exo-suit, helmets and reflective vests for safety purposes. Despite this tragic loss, many male lumberjacks grew great hairy beards, as homage to the Old Ways.  
The disturbances had been going on for a few days when the militia was called in. The standard procedure of the lumberjacks was to first mark the appropriate trees for felling, then restrain the tree with cables, cut through with a mixture of chain sawing and thermite, let the tree down slowly, chainsaw off the limbs and finally haul the tree away for processing. The problem was that even with militia and merc guards watching out for threats, the na'vi were continuously harassing the operation. They'd fire arrows at the trees surrounding trees, they'd tamper with the equipment, which would usually cause it to backfire when the workers needed them and many workers had a constant nagging suspicion that the na'vi were leading animals to the site with baits and lures. The veteran mercenaries figured that it was the work of young upstarts, and kids who were feeling brave enough to stick it to the humans. They were basically the na'vi equivalent of hippie students who wanted to stick it to the corporation… except they were far more aggressive and they had more dangerous tools at their disposal.  
About a day before Alex and Noh were sent out, a 'representative' from the Omaticaya tribe came to the colony: Ar'kadi. He said that the tribe knew about the disturbances, and wanted to meet with the liaisons and the lumberjacks to sort out the problems. While the na'vi engineer stayed behind with a few others tribesmen, Alex and Noh, along with their prospective militia squad got sent to the mines to meet up with the Omaticaya to sort the mess out.  
They were a little surprised to run into Jake yet again. He was a little more relaxed when it came to dealing with Garnett as opposed to Noh, and he was as friendly as a Na'vi could be with a whole party of warriors at his back. Overall, Alex was pleased with how the day went. The lumberjacks were far more pleasant to work with than with the miners and mercenaries, and were willing to make concessions themselves. Some of the na'vi that Jake had brought along was willing to back down. Alex reminded everyone that there was a deal between the two people, and that both sides had to make it work. Overall, everything had gone well.  
Now night was falling over Pandora. The militia and Na'vi were watching Emile's fire breathing and dancing, the lumberjacks had gone to bed, and now Alex was sharing a bottle of whiskey with Jake.

* * *

"How's the kid coming along?" Alex asked, pouring himself a glass.  
"Fine… Why do you ask about her?" Jake frowned.  
"Well, it's just…" he paused. "I did notice something out of place in her."  
"You saw the fingers, right?"  
"Yeah."  
"What about them?"  
"I just wonder, do people think of her differently?" Alex asked.  
Jake thought for a moment. "She's got the same level of respect as what you would come to expect out of a chieftains daughter. And her friends are still her friends."  
"What about everyone else?"  
"I'm not sure."  
"What is her name?"  
"Miri."  
"Ah."  
Alex already knew that, but he thought that it would be better to ask, than accidently blurt it out. It would have sounded a little strange.  
"What about you Alex?" Jake questioned, taking a sip. "You got any family?"  
Alex was silent for a moment. He stared at the bottle.  
"Oh right… I forgot…." Jake said quietly. He remembered Alex's speech back at the Hometree.  
"It's okay, it's okay."  
"Where exactly do you come from?"  
Alex slumped back in his chair. He looked at the bottle again.  
"I grew up in Toronto." He began.  
"East Coast Sprawl?"  
"Yeah. Not as bad as down south, but it still had its fair share of dark places." He sighed. "Dad used to work in one of the factories, making data pads. He died from cancer from the heavy metals involved. Medical bills weren't covered by insurance. They never are. Mom used to work in cleaning at one of the arcologies, but she died in a train accident when I was young, and Michelle was still a baby."  
"Was she your sister?"  
"Yeah… I took care of her when I wasn't in school, and dad was in work. We had to be careful with hiring babysitters 'cause we didn't have much money, and neither of us trusted those robo-nannies. I was about twelve when she came into being, but after a while, I started to feel like a father as much as a big brother. More so when dad died."  
"What happened when he did go?"  
"I was just leaving school. I joined the police force because I always wanted to help people, you know? I wanted to stop any crime and injustice I saw." He shook his head and took another sip. "Anyway, the new job came with a better pay check than my dad's factory job, so we got to move to a better apartment. I could pay for a decent sitter, Michelle was growing up great and I was enjoying my job. On Earth, I'd say that we were doing pretty well."  
He was silent for a while, staring into the amber flask of alcohol.  
"Remember when I said my sister was raped and killed? That _probably_ didn't happen, although in my darkest of thoughts, sometimes I do think that could have happened."  
"What did happen?"  
"I pissed off the wrong people. I was a nice upstanding part of the force and the cartels didn't like that. This was during a big crime war, and things were pretty bad. They wanted to make an example of us. So they hit us where we lived."  
What slightly scared Jake was just how matter-of-fact Alex sounded.  
"I was out taking a longer shift in order to be a part of a drug bust when I heard the call on my radio. I was there faster than anyone else… Not that it made a difference once I got there."

They were silent for a while. Outside, they could hear some Pandoran bird call out. Alex was about to break the silence by changing the topic to something less grim, when Jake asked Alex a question that he sometimes asked himself.  
"So why did you come here?"  
Alex frowned in thought.  
"I don't know…" he thought for a while. "I think a part of me just wanted to get the clean slate. I just wanted to start over again." He paused. "Or maybe I was running away. Maybe I was trying to forget what had happened. I don't know."  
They sat there silently in thought, Alex in his chair and Jake on a crate, thinking about what to say.  
"Do you ever think about your old human life?" Alex asked. "The people you've left behind?"  
Jake thought for a while. He knew that Alex hadn't asked him about whether or not he missed the crappy old life he had. He asked whether he missed any people.  
"Do you want to know something?"  
"What?"  
"This isn't actually my body."  
Alex sighed something disappointed. "Yeah, we kind of already knew about the whole avatar thing…"  
"Nah, nah, nah, this isn't actually _my_ avatar." Jake clarified, pointing at himself.  
"What do you mean?"  
Jake shifted himself. "I had a brother once. He wasn't a jarhead like me, he was a scientist. His name was Tommy."  
"Sooo…" Alex began "Let me guess, this was HIS avatar?"  
"Yep. He was supposed to take it when he went to Pandora, but he got mugged before he went." Jake sighed. "Suddenly there was this big growing na'vi in a tank somewhere, that cost a bazillion or so dollars to make and somebody had to pilot it. Since only a person with similar DNA could do so, guess who they went to."  
There was more silence.  
"Sometimes… sometimes I feel like all of this is happening… me being here, me doing all of this, me living…. Because Tommy died." He looked guilty. "It makes me feel like…."  
"Like a thief?"  
"No… Like a fucking grave robber."

* * *

They sat in the cabin for a while longer. They talked about less grim aspects of their time, the people they met, the colony, the Hometree, the moon, the general works. They were just talking about children when Alex said that he needed to go and check the other guys. Jake nodded and said that he would wait.  
He didn't really feel drunk. He was surprised that he could stomach the human liquor to begin with, and he linked it to just his bigger body. He didn't feel very bad anyway.  
He was just thinking about the homeland, when he was hit by the most blistering headache he had ever had. He had headaches before, but this one was easily on the top three. It caused him to clench his head, as if it was splitting apart. It felt like someone had managed to cram a crowbar in his head and was prying it open. Jake couldn't focus right.  
The pain was slowly subsuming. It was low enough to allow him to think well enough, but large enough to make sure it was the only thing to be thinking of. His vision had been affected though. He thought that everything around him had been covered in lint; everything was fuzzy, opaque and certainly not clear. He noticed that the chair in front of him had someone in it. He briefly felt like an idiot for having one of these episodes in front of Alex.  
Then he realised that the person in the chair wasn't Alex. Neither was it human or na'vi.  
The figure in the chair was as big as a na'vi, but he was vaguely human shaped. He couldn't really think of any other details, because it was as if the figure was completely shrouded in shadow and smoke. Completely, except for the eyes, which seemed to almost glow a dull red. They seemed strangely familiar, although Jake couldn't think why. The figure was seated comfortably; his leg crossed on his knee, and gave the strangest sense of looking like an evil psychologist. Jake could feel himself shivering at the sight.  
"You've been getting pretty friendly with the invaders Jake." The figure said. Jake instantly recognized the voice.  
"Stay the hell out of my head." He snapped. "I don't need you."  
"On the contrary Jake, you do need me." The shadow man smirked. "Hell, I couldn't leave even if I wanted to."  
"You're not even real!"  
"Not in the ordinary sense. That said, you're going to need to be able to tell the difference between the physical and the intangible really soon."  
"What the hell do you mean?"  
"It's awakening Jake." The figure said with seriousness. "You've felt it ever since the humans came back, now it's finally awakening after millennia of being abandoned."  
"What's awakening?" Jake nearly screamed. "What the fuck are you talking about?"  
"You'll know." The shadow man said with maddening simplicity. "In the meantime, the only advice I can give you, is to take care of your people. They're going to need you now more than ever."  
Then just like that, the shadow man blinked out of existence.

* * *

Jake sat on his crate with disbelief. He looked at the empty chair, and then he looked at the empty bottle. He really wanted to believe that what had just happened was just the result of alcohol affecting a na'vi body. He knew that that would just be wishful thinking though.  
The door opened up for the militia leader Alex.  
"Sorry about that Jake, I just had to-"  
Alex stopped mid-sentence. He just stood there, staring at Jake.  
This was really starting to get at the chieftain. Enough weird shit had happened.  
"What?" he almost shouted, desperation edging into his mind.  
"What happened to your glow?"  
Jake paused for a second, and then started looking at his own body. Alex was right. The once beautiful pattern of glow spots that once adorned his body was gone.  
Jake got off the crate and strode over to the window. He saw that the forest wasn't glowing anymore.  
"Get the lights on." He shouted. "_Get the fucking lights on!"_


	16. Chapter 16: Search Party

The lumber yard was in a state of fear. People were coming out of the prefab huts, and out of the makeshift tarps that the na'vi had set up to try to see what was going on. The forest had gone completely dark. Normally it would be exhibiting a healthy glow, but now the treeline had nothing coming out of it at all.  
As if that was bad enough, the fact that the forest was now deathly quiet didn't do much to calm people down. Of course people still heard themselves and the hustle and bustle of the lumber yard, but there were no bird calls, no chattering of animals, just the sound of the leaves and the wind. That in itself was enough to creep the hell out of everyone.  
"Hurry up and get the lights on! C'mon!" Noh shouted towards the generator hut. Inside, a technician frantically started to get the power diverted to the floodlights that were set up amongst the perimeter and in the compound. Meanwhile, na'vi tribesman started to light torches with sticks, cloth and oil. The colonists and guards started to turn on flashlights and flares to make their light. Everyone was on edge.  
"How long do you think this is going to go on for?" Shee'kana whispered to Mu'kala.  
"How should I know?" he hissed, the darkness starting to get to him. "Last time it happened, the dark lasted for the whole night." He watched the treeline with nervousness. "And when it happened, I was attacked by a crazy fucking _palalukan_."  
"Will that happen?"  
"I don't know!..." he snapped. "Just keep your eyes open, okay?"  
"Okay."  
They watched and waited from their hut. The flames of their torch flickered upon their surroundings, casting unusual shadows upon everything. The treeline remained silent.  
"Hey." Voice came from their side. The two na'vi turned and looked down. A tree cutter with one of those completely bizarre fuzzy faces looked up and offered them a few of the strange fire sticks some of the guards were using. "One of the guys told me to hand these out to you guys." He said in broken na'vi.  
"Oh… uh thanks." Mu'kala said shyly. He took the sticks with care.  
"Just twist this cap here…" he said motioning with the flare. "The thing will come alight. Use it when you need it."  
"Thank you."  
The lumberjack was about to leave when he seemed to realize the state that the na'vi were in. He cocked his eye in an almost amused fashion.  
"What's the matter?" he quizzed. "Afraid of the dark or something?"

* * *

Noh was trying to keep the new mining foreman calm. That easily counted as one of his most difficult missions yet. The man was pacing up and down the former office of Rueben Netanyahu looking as if the barbarians at the gate were about to storm the compound.  
"We've got complete control of the compound right?" he asked, his voice only sort of disguising the fear and panic in his mind.  
"Yes." Answered Noh loyally, leaning against the wall. He was crossing his arms tightly across his chest, a sign that might be interpreted as power or dominance, but to Noh, it was just his way of keeping calm. He himself felt that something nasty was about to jump out of the shadows and eat his face off. But he couldn't let those feelings show. He had to look as if he was still in control.  
"I can assure you Mr Denton; we have the situation well in hand." The commanding officer of the mining compound answered. He was one of those 'by the book' officers, a rather forgettable man known as Captain Smith. "Sgt Noh, do the na'vi look as if they are behind this?"  
"What? Hell no!" Noh answered with a little bit of surprise and anger. "…sir." He added respectfully. "The na'vi are just as worried as we are about what just happened. Hell, they look even more scared shitless than we are."  
"Then that means that whatever's going to happen is going to kill us all!" the foreman moaned. "They know this place! If they're scared shitless, then we've got an even bigger right to start getting the hell out of this place!"  
"Mr Denton would you just calm the hell down!" Noh ordered. "There's no need to jump aboard the panic train and start screaming that the sky is falling, okay?"  
"Well what about the colony itself?" Denton countered snappily. "Our communications have been hit by ungodly amounts of interference. We're cut off from the colony! Who knows, maybe they're under attack right now by the na'vi and their dragon mounts!"  
"We're working on the communication, but right now I just need you to keep calm and carry on." Answered Smith.  
"Hey sir, what's that light out in the distance?" Noh asked. He was looking out the office window.  
The officer and foreman walked over to the window. From it, one could see the compounds lumber mill and the surrounding forest (The mining pit itself was on the other side of the building.)From their vantage point, they could see an incredibly obvious pillar of light, coming out of the horizon. In the darkness it was the most vivid thing any of them could see. The strange thing was, is that the light was not vertical. It was noticeably slanted, as if someone had been manning a searchlight and then left to grab a sandwich.  
"What the hell is that?" Smith asked.  
"Hell if I know." Noh shrugged. "It's too far to be Hells Gate anyway."  
They looked at it for a while, when Smith was suddenly hit by a bolt of lightning. In the form of realization, of course.  
"Did we have anyone out on the roads when the lights went out?" he asked.  
"Now that you mention it…" began Denton warily "We did have a convoy of lumber trucks coming back right now." He remembered an uncomfortable fact. "They should have come back by now, come to think of it."  
"So let me get this straight." Noh said in a mix of frustration and anger. "Right now, there's a bunch of our guys out there right now, all on their own, radio's fucked, in the middle of the really scary, dark forest?"  
The three humans were silent.  
"Right, we're going after them."  
"I concur." Nodded Smith. "We can't leave them on their own."  
"You guys do realise that it's a mile or so away?" Denton asked uncomfortably, pointing at the light. "You can't exactly walk over there you know."  
"Of course. That's why we're taking the APC's with us." Smith shrugged. "Should only take half an hour or so."  
"But what about the Na'vi?" Denton protested, waving his arms. "You guys just going to leave us unguarded with them?"  
"We're not all just going to leave Mr. Denton." Smith answered. "But I do agree, I am uncomfortable about leaving the garrison to deal with the remaining na'vi."  
"I'd say we take some of them with us." Noh suggested.  
The office was silent for a while. "Are you kidding me?"  
"Nope. We could use the extra eyes to help search for the colonists and it means the garrison here doesn't have so much tribesman to worry about." Noh looked confident. For his usual snarky attitude, that was an impressive change. "Alex can go with the guys who go out, I'll stay. All the bases are covered, don't you worry."

* * *

The road rumbled as the convoy of three APC's rolled on. Normally, one might think it was just an ordinary night patrol. That is, if that one didn't take heed to the na'vi warriors and militiamen perched on top of the vehicle.  
The na'vi couldn't really fit inside the cramped confines of the vehicles, so they had to sit on the roof of the armored vehicles. It wasn't exactly first class, but the light coming from the headlamps and the searchlights helped calm them down.  
"This is kind of fun, don't you think?" Shee'kana smiled to Mu'kala. She was doing her best to remain upbeat and positive about the situation.  
"Just keep your eyes on the forest." Mu'kala shouted over the rumbling.  
They continued on through the forest. The na'vi didn't like the idea of leaving the safety of the compound and its calming lights. Few of them wanted to go out and help some idiot humans who were quite probably already dead. However, having something to do was something all of them wanted. Sitting around, waiting for something to happen was something none of them wanted to do. So they surprised themselves by being willing to go on this escapade.  
"We should have gone home earlier." A young na'vi brave muttered. "Why the hell are we helping them out?"  
"Well none of us would be in this position had you shown some restraint and didn't attack the tree cutters." Mu'kala retorted.  
"Why should we?" the brave snapped frustrated. "These are slow subtle people, biding their time, slowly eating away at the land. We never notice anything too bad, yet. Then the Sky-People will make their move. We'll all get eaten as well!"  
There was a short silence.  
Mu'kala cocked his eye. "You learnt that line from Hesh'ka, didn't you?"  
The brave started to shift uncomfortably.  
"When did you hear it?"  
"When I went to the Khalistheya to learn about the swamplands." He said.  
"Right then." Mu'kala chewed, probing into the brave. "Next time you feel like a man, show some fucking backbone instead of listening to that old crone and talking her words." He spat.  
The brave bowed his head in shame.

The APC's continued on in the dark, headlights and searchlights scanning the darkness.  
"Do you think the canoes are still okay?" Shee'kana asked her boss.  
"I'm sure they're fine, we left them under the mangrove trees." Mu'kala yelled confidently over the APC's. "The humans will never find them."  
The na'vi had managed to get to the compound via the nearby waterways and swamps that crisscross the forest. The RDA had boats, sure, but the na'vi knew the waters better like the back of their own hands. Many times they'd pass the odd memorial of some RDA idiot's foolish demise. The canopy covering the water and swamps also provided ample cover from choppers.  
"Hey Mu'kala, don't we have a few of our people visiting the Khalistheya right now?" Shee'kana shouted again.  
"Yeah? Why?"  
"Who's visiting?"  
"Just Jake's wife and child… two of the sleepwalker scientists, and a few of our hunters."  
"Jake's mate and child are visiting?"  
"Don't look at me." Mu'kala shrugged. "From what I heard, they got a message saying that Hesh'ka knows something about the child."  
"What, she's special or something?"  
"Hell if I know, I was out hunting, so don't ask me. They're probably at their village in the swamps right now."

* * *

Soon enough, the convoy came to the source of light. The APC's grinded to a halt.  
The road was a mess. Standard convoys carrying lumber were comprised of two lumber hauling big rig style trucks, escorted by an APC and two patrol vehicles. Sometimes more patrol vehicles or an AMP would ride shotgun, safety in numbers being the well-known rule on Pandora. This convoy in particular would have comprised of two trucks and two patrollers. And they were wrecked.  
The light in question was caused from one of the headlights from a patroller. It must have backed up, reversed off the road, and then fell off of the embankment, and onto a tree, causing its headlights to shine up into the sky. The other patroller was still on the road, but it had tipped over to one side. One of the lumber trucks had crashed into a tree, its logs had broken free of their restraints and had scattered across the road. The other truck had been forced to stop where it was.  
As the na'vi hopped off the vehicles and the militia disembarked, they saw the signs of battle everywhere. Bullet holes dotted the trees and the vegetation. The windows of the vehicles had been smashed in and there were blood splatters across the scene, on the ground on the vehicles, IN the vehicles, everywhere.  
"So where are the bodies?" a militiaman asked as he checked inside a cab. It was the first thing on everyone's mind. There was a lot of blood, you didn't have to be a forensics genius to know people fought here, but nobody could find any of the owners of that blood.  
Emile was watching Alex examining the wreckage. He noticed that he was rubbing his head repeatedly, in a quite noticeable way.  
"Something wrong boss?"  
"It's fine… I've just got a headache."  
The place was so silent.  
"Sooo…" Alex asked a Mu'kala, trying to sound like he knew what he was doing. He did not. "What do you think happened?"  
"Don't know…. I'm sure it's not the animals though." The na'vi answered.  
"What makes you say that?"  
"We would have found your men by now. As half eaten meals, true, but found all the same."  
The vehicles were battered and torn. As if someone had put them through one of those "One dollar gets you five minutes of time to beat a car with a sledge" style event. Alex had a real bad feeling.  
"Hey, boss!" a voice shouted out from the logs. "Check this out?"  
Alex clambered over the logs and went over to Mac. He was holding something for Alex to see. Alex stiffened badly when he saw it.  
They were the broken remnants of the big heavy arrows that the na'vi were so fond of using. While their coloured flights and stone heads didn't make them very high tech, their massive size made them powerful enough to punch through the thickest body armor. They were almost as effective as the guns that the humans brought with them. The sight of this arrow filled Alex with dread.  
"I think we've just found our culprits boss." Mac said with the seriousness of life and death.  
"Are there anymore?"  
"A few. The trucks and stuff show the impacts and holes from them."  
"Crap."

Alex turned to watch the other militia and na'vi combing through the wreckage. He paid careful attention to the na'vi that was watching the treeline. A few of them were being kind enough to help clear some of the mess.  
The thing was, Alex wasn't sure if he really was looking at the culprits or not. The convoy would have gotten hit _after_ the blackout occurred, so the men and women that he was looking at were obviously not the actual culprits. It almost certainly was caused by another tribe, one that still hated humans, and one that certainly was not afraid of the dark, unlike so many other na'vi. Problem was, it still didn't answer the question of who it actually was, or the more mysterious question of why they took the bodies.  
"Radio base, tell me when you've made contact with Smith." He ordered one of the nearby radio operators. The man nodded an affirmative and started fiddling with his backpack radio. Then Alex clutched his head suddenly, cursing.  
"Is there a problem?" Mac asked.  
"Nah…. I'm good… I'm good."  
"Sir I can't reach ESM-1 on this thing." The radio operator said.  
"Tried all the channels?"  
"Zip." He shrugged. "Too much interference or something."  
"Shit…" Alex started to get nervous. He didn't relish the idea of spending the night here in the dark. "Try the APC's radio's maybe they work."  
They waited for a minute while one of the drivers fiddled with his on-board radio. Soon his head poked out from the armored cupola. "I can sort of get something sir." The driver yelled. "But it's all static. I can barely tell if I'm hearing voices or that crappy new age music."  
"Keep trying!" Alex shouted back.  
"What do we do boss?" Mac said nervously.  
"Well we don't know where the hell our boys are now." Alex answered in trepidation. "And our na'vi…. 'friends' can't track them down in this dark… So I'm sorry, but I guess we're just going to have to head back to the-"  
"You hear that?" a na'vi from down near the treeline interrupted loudly. His ears had pricked up like radar dishes. His friends went silent.  
"What did he say?" the radio guy asked quietly.  
"Shut up for a second." Alex shouted. The militia went quiet.  
There was barely any sound at all coming from the forest. One might have thought that the whole place had simply gone to sleep.  
Then they heard. It was barely audible, it would have been so easy to miss. A faint 'boom'. Everyone heard it. Then they made out a faint 'budda, budda, budda.' Then another pop. It was all so faint you wouldn't have heard it if you were concentrating on something else. Everyone knew where it was coming from however. And everyone knew what the sounds were.

"They're under attack." Emile whispered.  
The thought spread like wildfire. Human and na'vi alike were chattering to each other about what it all meant.  
"Everyone, get back in the saddle!" Alex yelled. "We're heading out-"  
"Now wait just a fucking minute sir!" one of the militia yelled. "How the fuck should we trust these fucking blue-skins?"  
"Yeah, this convoy got hit by a fucking tribe attack." Another militia shouted. He was holding up the remains of a broken arrow. "Why the fuck should we keep working this lot?"  
"That wasn't us!" Mu'kala shouted.  
"Then who was? Your friends?"  
"Now, now…" interrupted Mac. "Let's not bicker and argue over whom killed who…."  
Na'vi and humans alike were drawing their weapons. The scene was starting to turn into a Mexican standoff.  
The scariest part was that Alex himself was aiming his shotgun at a nearby na'vi warrior, who in turn was levelling his bow against another militia. Everyone was shouting or arguing over whose fault it was. The thing was, is that Alex was now really suspecting that the Na'vi were behind this mess. He just needed to calm everyone down in order to get answers.  
If only he could quiet down the raging headache he was having.

* * *

One of the militia was demanding to know why the na'vi didn't tell anyone about the broken arrows, when he stopped.  
"What was that?" he asked, turning around.  
He was just in time to see the viperwolf pounce on him.  
The beast was about the size of a small bear, easily big enough to overpower the human. The poor bastard never stood a chance. Before anyone could react, the rest of the pack burst out of the trees. They swarmed against na'vi and human alike, being met with gunfire and swipes. The scene instantly turned into something out of _Aliens_.  
"They're coming from fucking EVERYWHERE!" one man screamed.  
"Where's a fucking AMP when you need it?"  
"What's wrong with them? A na'vi shouted.  
As Alex blasted them, he could tell the viperwolves were crazy. Even though some of them had sustained massive wounds from arrows and gunshots, they just kept surging forward. Their tendrils twitched something crazy. And their eyes had a look Alex was familiar with.  
"Get to the APC's!" he roared above the racket. "Let's get the fuck out of here!"  
This was something everyone agreed on. They could argue later, right now they just wanted to get out alive. None of the militia argued when a few na'vi clambered on top of the armored vehicles. The remaining humans tumbled into the armored hulls.  
Alex could quickly tell that he was already losing men. He couldn't tell how many, but he was already having to step over one unlucky sod. He also caught glimpses of a na'vi hunter getting swarmed and pulled down by the viperwolves.  
"Hurry up!" one of the APC drivers shouted from his cupola. He was taking pot shots at the beasts with his SMG.  
_C'mon Alex_ the warrant officer gritted to himself. _You can make it. You can-_  
Something smacked into him at high velocity, sending him off the bank.  
He didn't even scream, he was taken completely by surprise. He felt himself tumbling down the bank, snapping through vines, and shrubs, all the while getting his shoulder chewed by a viperwolf.  
He should have felt the teeth biting through his flesh but the exo-suit he wore was more durable than it looked. When he finally came down to the bottom he tried to push the beast off himself, mechanics and desperation fuelling him. The beast started to snap at his face, coming close to taking it right off.  
Alex realised that his gun was still slinged to him. Problem was, it was hard to reach for it when there was a psychotic animal trying to eat his face off. With all the strength he and his exo could muster, he slammed the beast forward. The viperwolf staggered back, getting ready for its chance to pounce again.  
It didn't get one. Its head exploded from the power of a 20 millimetre explosive shotgun shell. The rest of the beast's body slumped down to the ground. Alex thought he saw it twitch.

Alex slumped against a tree trunk. He really needed the breather.  
_It's happening again._  
He thumbed his radio.  
"ESM-1. This is Warrant Officer Garnett. Do you copy."  
No response. He could no longer hear any of the viperwolves. May be they all went and chased the others.  
_Shit._ He realised. _They must think I'm gone._  
That would mean he was alone.


	17. Chapter 17: Chasing Ghosts

Chasing Ghosts

"Okay." Alex breathed to himself as he pushed his way through the brush. "This is bad."

Considering the fact that he had only just managed to survive an attack by a pack of psychotic animals, he considered himself lucky that he was still alive. Instead, he was now lost in a dark forest, with only a small flashlight to guide him.  
_I should have packed a bigger one._ He mused. Of course, since Pandora's nights were usually bright enough to let someone see without imaging enhancers, flashlights were pretty low on people's wish lists. Not anymore.  
He had tried to climb the bank again. It didn't work out. The earth was crumbly and he could barely see any decent handholds. Instead, he settled for following the bank until it evened out, then he would get back onto the road, and he'd make his way home. At least the psycho animals had gone.  
That was almost half an hour ago. He thought he heard gunfire at one point, in the distance, but that was a while ago. He thought about staying at his position in the hope that another search party would find him, but that was unlikely. Chances were his friends thought that he was dead. He certainly couldn't tell if anyone else was in his position, and he certainly didn't want to attract any of the murderous wildlife by shouting or firing his weapon. For all intents and purposes, he was alone.  
Strangely, he started to get used to the silence. More importantly, it sounded like the birds and the critters started to as well. He could hear the small chirps, screes and chitterlings of birds, insects and critters. For some reason, he really felt at ease.

"Okay… this is no big deal…" he whispered to himself. "I can get through this…"  
His foot plunged into water, causing him to gasp in shock. He almost lost his footing and fell in.  
_Shit…_  
He shined his light across his surroundings. He noticed the moon was starting to shine through the trees. He remembered that sometimes it was easier to see in darkness without his flashlight. He flicked it off, and waited for his eyes to adjust.  
"Well this is new…"  
He realised he was standing near the border, of what appeared to be a large swamp. It was certainly very 'swamplike'… and wet. Without the glow of Pandora, it looked like any other swamp that he had expected to see.  
Alex carefully waded through the water. He did his best to follow the embankment, relying on what was practically gut instinct to make his way. The water was cold and at times went up to his chest, but he was careful enough to not trip over. His exo suit was designed to be positively buoyant, so there wasn't that much of a threat of him drowning.  
_Funny…_ He thought. _I swear to god I can hear a heartbeat._ It wasn't his own. He could hear it, alternating, and with a sound that felt like a beat, but was entirely different. It gave him a strange sense of peace and something moved in the water.  
"What?"  
He could definitely see it, the ripples. It was coming to him, whatever it was.  
"Oh shit…"  
He started to scramble up the nearest tree root that he could find. Noise discipline be damned, something was coming for him.  
He had just managed to hoist himself up, when it burst out of the water.

'It' proved to be the closest Pandoran equivalent of a crocodile. Except it had six legs, an armored carapace, and was _massive_. It could have very well eaten Alex whole had he not managed to get out of the water. Unfortunately, it got the illustrious second prize in the form of Alex's leg.  
Alex screamed as the jaws clamped on his leg. In normal circumstances, it would have been chomped right off. Thanks to the armored greaves that his exo suit provided, the teeth failed to breach his skin.  
Alex was being dragged down. He was holding onto the tree root with all of his mechanised might, but he knew that he was fucked. He'd eventually lose his grip, and it would be all over.  
A hand grabbed him.  
He was facing down so he couldn't see who was rescuing him. Whoever it was, he was certainly strong, as they were now making real progress, and Alex was being lifted up. As soon as he had freedom to use his hands again, he grabbed his shotgun and aimed carefully at the crocodile things forehead. Then he fired.  
The beast gave a roar of pain and let go of Alex. The lucky human and his rescuer almost fell off the other side. The beast slunk back into the water.  
Alex caught his breath and looked at his saviour. He swore when he saw who it was.  
The na'vi woman beside him looked like she had just been through a battlefield. Her hair was torn, her jewellery was broken and she was covered in mud. She was tired, and had the same look of surprise that Alex had on his face.  
"Fuck Neytiri…" Alex swore. "Is that you?"

* * *

Mu'kala jogged down the road, his head fuming at himself for missing the APC.  
Another part of his mind was actually glad he didn't have to rely on the humans machines. He never trusted such devices. He'd prefer to come on a mount, but of course, he didn't bring one.  
_I can't believe they accused US of the killings._ He fumed. _Why? They were na'vi, probably, but who would have any wit to attack a single convoy carrying wood?_  
He kept jogging. When the mad beasts attacked, he was unable to get to the trucks before they took off with the others; he was busy trying to stop a viperwolf from biting his arm off. By the time he killed it, the trucks had sped off, and any one left behind was either dead, or had melted into the jungle, the beasts hunting them. He alone remained on the road.  
_I mean, it's not what __**I **__would have done._ He continued in his head. _I would have hit some convoy containing their murdering soldiers, not trucks of wood. Whose idea was this?  
Probably some boys too scared to face the real warriors…_  
He kept jogging. The moon was out in the sky, shining cool light down upon the ground. The darkness didn't seem so scary anymore. His mood lifted a little.  
The only thing detracting him further was the damn headache he was having.  
He continued jogging.

* * *

"Yes…." The na'vi cheiftess breathed. "It's me…"  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I want to ask what the hell YOU are doing here first… okay?" She was haggard. She certainly wasn't going to take a 'no' from the tawtute as an answer. She really was not in the mood for any bullshit whatsoever.  
Alex seemed to take the hint. He related to her in na'vi on what had happened, how the humans had gone to look for their missing men, only to find a convoy attacked by arrows. He then related on how the mad monsters had attacked everyone, causing him to be separated from everyone else. The rest was details, particularly in how he just managed to avoid being eaten alive thanks to her help.  
"You were lucky I was here tawtute." Neytiri said. "That beast would have been your end, when you disturbed its lair."  
"Right, how was I to know which patch of jungle belonged to what animal in the middle of the dark?" Alex said sardonically. "So why the hell are you here?"

"I was going with my child to visit the Khalistheya tribe. My child, Miri, she started getting strange, recurring dreams each night for the past week."  
"What sort of dreams?"  
"She spoke of strange lands of mist and shadow. It was a world that was like ours, but different, filled with strange aspects that didn't make any sense to us. In these dreams, she would find people… or perhaps spirits. Some were hostile and angry. They would try to attack Miri and chase her down. Others were benevolent and kind, and would try to help her go safely through this world. She never really told us what these spirits were like. A lot of this world we didn't understand."  
Alex sat there listening. He didn't say a word.  
"Sometimes she would wake as normal. Other times, she would wake up frightened or crying. We didn't know what to do. Then one day, Hesh'ka of the Khalistheya sent a messenger saying that she had the answer. She said that she could only tell us when we came to her village. I went with Miri, along with Norm, Max and a few friends. Jake couldn't come because of the trouble with the young braves attacking the treecutters." She shut her eyes in frustration. "I should have never trusted that fucking bitch…"  
"What do you mean?"  
"When we arrived at their homes in this swamp, Hesh'ka was at first, friendly with us. We talked about Miri's dreams at what we could do, when suddenly she just shouted 'Now!'. All of the sudden, some of her warriors pounced upon us, trying to pin us under, and taking us prisoner. She took Miri away from us, and carried the rest of us to a clearing out in the swamp."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know…" Neytiri whispered. She fought back a tear or two. "She didn't say anything about what she was planning to do with her, even when I screamed at her about how much of a traitorous bitch she was… While they were taking us to the clearing, Norm caused a distraction, and I managed to slip away. I don't know what happened to the others though; I think they're still with the Khalistheya. I trudged the rest of the day and the night, through the swamp in the hope that could get to the mines and tell Jake what had happened." She breathed in and out. "And then it went dark."

Alex was silent for a while as they sat on the root.  
"How can you be so calm in a place like this?" Neytiri demanded.  
"This is my calm face?"  
"How can you live in the darkness? How do you find your way without Eywa's light to guide you? Why aren't you scared of this?"  
"What, are all na'vi scared of the dark?" Alex muttered half-jokingly.  
Neytiri wasn't smiling.  
And then Alex realised what she meant.  
_Of course… na'vi exist in light almost all the time. Between the sun, the moon, the planet and the glow of the flora and fauna, real darkness must be almost non-existent. _He noted the na'vi's reaction when the forest had gone dark twice. _They've never SEEN real darkness. No wonder they're so scared of it._  
"Well Neytiri…" Alex said as he got up. "We humans don't have your wonderful light back home. We never did." He grabbed a branch off the tree, tied some fabric around it, and moved slowly to the pitch plant that was growing out of the trunk.  
"So we make our own."

* * *

Mu'kala needed a breather. It was funny. The trip to the convoy had only taken about half an hour, but that was only because they were going on vehicles. It must have been few hours since he had taken off down the road, but he wasn't sure that he had made a lot of progress. Having a headache didn't help either.  
He sat at the foot of a tree, just off the side of the road. He'd give himself a short break, and then he'd be back on the move again. He relished in the thought of being able to tell off the others for leaving him behind.  
_Damn tawtutes…._ He thought. _Leave me behind like the short, untrustworthy scum that they are huh? I'll show them.  
_He watched the world around him. The moon was out, so he took some comfort in seeing its face in the dark.  
_Why did they take the bodies? I've heard of people taking the equipment and leaving the bodies, but who's heard of taking the bodies and leaving the gear? There were some decent guns lying around.  
_He rubbed his head furiously. The headache was starting to make him dour.  
_Maybe it's some human trick. _He thought up suspiciously. _Maybe they made the whole thing to give them a reason to attack us. Maybe this is all-_  
"Daddy, what are you doing?"

Mu'kala looked up.  
In front of him, in the direction of the mines, were two na'vi: a boy and his mother. The mother held her child's shoulders parentally from behind. The boy was dressed in what anyone would expect a na'vi child to dress up in. He had scuffed up hair and mud on his face. The mother was dressed in clean wrappings. She had feathers in her braid, arranged in in an almost spiral fashion. Both of them looked at Mu'kala with sad eyes.  
"…Kee'ha?... Sokka?" Mu'kala stammered. "What…what are you doing here?"  
"We came to see you daddy." The child said. His voice felt like the only thing in Mu'kala's mind.  
"But… but…" Mu'kala stared. He was at a loss for words. "But you're both dead. I… I…"  
"We know."  
"Then…. how…. What…."  
"You didn't say goodbye 'kala." The mother whispered. "You weren't there when we needed you."  
"But… but I was on a hunt!" the once powerful na'vi warrior begged. "There was no way I'd be there in time before they attacked! I tried to get back, but by the time I heard, RDA had already attacked! I…"  
The boy and the child started to move down the road. Mu'kala couldn't tell if they were walking.  
"Wait!" he cried, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen!"  
He started to chase after them. Before he knew it, he was breaking into full run. But no matter how fast he went, they never in his reach. They were always walking away.  
Mu'kala tripped up on the road. He didn't see the larger than normal stone, and he fell flat on his face as a result. When he looked back up, they were gone.

Mu'kala got back to his feet shakily. He looked around. He had progressed down the road further, but the surrounds hadn't really changed. The forest didn't seem to care that he was chasing ghosts. Mu'kala fought back the remaining tears, wiped his nose and regained his composure as best he could. He still felt like curling into a ball and crying though.  
He started walking on again.

* * *

Alex and Neytiri walked carefully along the swamp roots.  
"Do you know where you're going?" Neytiri questioned at one point.  
"…Sort of."  
"What do you mean sort of?"  
"I'm sure if we follow this bank, we'll make our way up the road again."  
"If you say so…"  
They walked on. Alex carried the flaming torch. It wasn't as fancy or high tech like a flashlight or night vision, but there was nothing else better for beating back the dark. Sometimes they would have to quietly wade through water, other times Neytiri had to carry Alex across certain gaps. Those were sometimes awkward moments.

"So Neytiri…" Alex began.  
"What?"  
"Tell me about your daughter."  
"No."  
Alex paused a little.  
"Okay I wasn't expecting you to be that blunt…"  
"I'm not discussing my family with you tawtute." Neytiri replied. "Get used to disappointment."  
"Believe me, I'm used to it."  
"It's not as if you have any experience in them." She muttered snarkily.  
"Hey!" Alex stopped where he was, pointing the torch back at her. "I've had the closest thing to a daughter to take care of alright!" he said with anger. "So don't tell me what I know and don't know, okay?"  
"Oh really? Neytiri smirked condescendingly "Did you babysit some brat for a night while his mom and dad partied?" She started to make expressions. "Did he not go to bed when you told him? Did you screw up his favourite bedtime story?"  
"How about looking after your six-year old little sister, after your parents died for several years, all by yourself, and then come home to find that somebody killed her?" he said. "That good enough answer?"  
Whatever laughter there was in the situation had a heart attack and died on the spot.  
"…I-"  
"You know what? Fuck it. Forget I mentioned anything." Alex marched on moodily. Neytiri had to follow behind to stay with the light.

Neytiri was silent for a while as she thought of something to say. She thought of changing the subject, but that just seemed to be a gormless, spineless thing to do. So after about half an hour of trudging, she worked up the spine to ask him about her.  
"Tell me about her."  
"No. Get used to disappointment."  
There was a short silence.  
Alex sighed. "Her name was Michelle. She was my sister."  
"How old was she?"  
"She was about six when I started taking care of her. I was only nineteen." Alex jumped over a gap. "She was the biggest thing about my life at that point. I had to work as a policeman and at the same time look after Michelle. It wasn't easy."  
"What was she like?"  
"She was cute… she always asked questions, always wanted to know what this was, what was that, who was that man, how was your day, what happens if you put these in a blender…" he partially shivered. "I never knew glow sticks could blend…" he got back on topic. "But she almost always had a smile for you when you came through the door. She must have hated being cooped up at home, she always loved it when I took her out to explore the city…" He shimmied across the root. "And she loved hearing stories. She once said she preferred hearing stories to watching TV."  
They moved on a while longer. Neytiri didn't ask about how she died. Instead, she moved on to something more worthwhile.  
"If it's any consolation…" she said reassuringly. "Miri would have loved to meet her."  
"Huh…"  
"Really. She's a lot like what you said your sister is like. She would have made fast friends with this Michelle."  
Alex looked behind at Neytiri for a moment. He looked uncertain.  
"Well… if you say so." He agreed. "Thanks. She did look friendly."  
Neytiri frowned. "You met her? When?"  
"Let's just say that Hesh'ka didn't do a too good a job of stopping her from meeting the sky people when they came to visit." He kept moving.

As they continued to move through the swamp, Neytiri started to snicker.  
"…What?" Alex asked uncomfortably.  
"I saw you smile there."  
"…So?"  
"That's something I've never seen you of all people do." She chuckled. "AND you were trying to hide it."  
"You haven't really been doing too much smiling either."  
"Yeah, but it's funnier noticing you not doing it."  
"Oh go soak your head…" he countered. "You're just jealous because if YOU smile too much, then your face would crack upon."  
"Hey, it could be worse. At least I'm not some pitiful young woman who dyed her red, put liner on her eyes, and bemoans how miserable our world is."  
Alex turned around and stared at Neytiri before bursting into laughter.  
"What's so funny?"  
"We've got the same equivalent of that, more or less, back home!" he started to shrug off the laughter.  
"Nah! You're lying!"  
"I'm not! I know a guy just like that in the colony!"  
The two of them started laughing as they compared the differences between the two people that they knew. Before they knew it, they were gossiping about their other friends and their own people.  
"Oh man…." Neytiri sighed happily. "Our friends have got more in common with each other than I've thought."  
"Yeah. I wonder how they're doing now…"

* * *

The human and the na'vi walked through the forest.  
Emile was lucky to have found someone after running into the forest. He knew the stories of people who had been found dead just metres from the road. So he was glad when a na'vi brave ran right into him a little while after the fight. He still had to nurse the bruises from it. At least the two of them knew each other's language, sort of. Now they just had to find a way back.  
"There." Emile pointed across the gap. "The road is right over there. All we need to do now is find a way across this gap…"  
"I can jump it." The na'vi declared. He took a running start and clearly leapt over the gap and onto the road. "Your turn human."  
Emile took a running start. But just before he reached the gap, he stopped dead. He balanced precariously over the edge before stepping back.  
"What's the matter?"  
"I… I can't make this one."  
"What, are you afraid of heights?"  
"….Yes."  
The na'vi swore. "Hold on, I'll go find a vine you can grab on while I drag you up. Wait here." The na'vi took off.  
Emile started to get really nervous at this point. _Okay… That na'vi guy better not has just left me here._ He thought in his mind. _Its okay Emile, It's okay… just wait here calmly and- what was that?_  
He heard something crawling up the bank. On his side no doubt. He took out his flashlight and took a deep breath.  
He went to look.

The scream filled the forest as Derun raced back with the vine. _Shit, what has that moron got himself into?_  
He came up to the gap. There was no sign of the human on the other side.  
"Hang on!" he shouted in broken English. "I've got the vine! I need you to come back so I can throw you the vine So I-"  
"Don't bother." A quiet voice said right beside him.  
The warrior jumped back in fright. The human was standing right beside him. He was facing away from the bank, not even bothering to turn his head to face the warrior. He had this disturbingly blank expression on his face.  
"Shit!..." the warrior stammered in fright. "How the hell did you get across?"  
"I jumped."  
"Jumped?"  
"Jumped."  
The warrior looked at the gap. "But that was a big gap! There was no way you could have jumped across…"  
"I did." Emile said flatly.  
The warrior looked back and forth from the gap to Emile.  
"You-"he began.  
"Jumped." Emile interrupted.  
"Across-"  
"Across the ravine."  
Derun scratched his head.  
"Is there a bathroom I can use around here?" Emile asked.


	18. Chapter 18: The Hunters

**The Hunters.**

Mu'kala walked on in the darkness. He wasn't in the mood to think about taking sweet revenge upon the others anymore. He just wanted to be by himself and go to sleep.  
_I just saw my family._ He thought in his head. _What does that mean?_  
It could have meant a few things. One was that all of the spirits in the world had come to visit him, signalling the beginning of the new world (he just made that one up). Two was that the spirits of his family had gotten restless. They would have come to visit him as a final goodbye. And finally three: he had cracked his skull and had gone completely crazy.  
He had stricken the first one off, he couldn't make his mind up about the others though. At least his headache had gone.  
"Funny…" he muttered to himself. "Every time I get a headache, something bad happens…"  
_No, wait…._ He countered. _That time with that brew I had last week was definitely strange… Strange but ordinary._  
Mu'kala shook his head. Merely thinking about headaches was giving him one.

He was walking for another hour or so when he finally came up to the mining compound.  
_Thank Eywa…_ he thought relieved. _About fucking time…_  
The place looked about the same as when he left it. The buildings were more or less where he left them, and the lights were still blazing at full power. To the right of the whole complex laid the ugly open cast mines. The whole place looked more or so the same.  
The thing that hit him however was that the place was utterly quiet.  
He started to walk up to the gate leading to the lumbering area of the compound. Its large inches-of steel-plate gate was closed. There were no sounds on the other side.  
"Hello?" he shouted in na'vi. Nothing happened. He tried again in English. There was no response.  
"Okay this isn't funny." He continued. "I've had a tough fucking night, and I don't want any more crap. Just let me in so I can see my friends."  
The silence that came back started to scare him. He might have well been met with an echo.  
He started to take a good look at finding a new way in. The walls were thick polycrete topped with that godawful razor wire. The gate itself was a no go. He moved than to the left, turning the corner to another side of the compound.  
Right there he saw something. The wall was breached. There was a big hole in the polycrete wall, near the top. The razor wire had been cut away.  
Right away, Mu'kala knew that could not have been normally done. Anyone who tried to so much as touch the wall was easily blasted away by the automated defence towers that lined the walls every hundred metres or so. Mu'kala himself took care not to cross the killzone. Then he realised that the towers had been trashed. The auto-turrets had been reduced to scrap. Something big had hit them.  
Above all, he noticed the make-shift ladder someone had placed at the breach. It was definitely of na'vi make. He started climbing. He wasn't sure if he would like what he would find on the other side.  
As he climbed, he noticed someone's head slumped near the top of the battlements. The light from behind made it impossible for Mu'kala to see who it was. As he got to the top, Mu'kala noticed it was a na'vi's head. He lifted it.  
"Hey, are you okay?"  
When he lifted the head, a dead face stared back at him. It had copped an arrow in the eye, and that arrow had been removed, leaving a bloody eye socket.  
Mu'kala yelped in fright, going as far as to fall off the ladder. He landed on his ass.  
As he looked back up, he could still see the ghastly silhouette of the head on top of the wall. At least he didn't have to see the eye socket again.  
He started to climb the ladder again. This time he poked his head over the wall.  
"Eywa…" he breathed.

The yard in front of him looked a warzone. One in which the bodies hadn't been picked up yet. The buildings were pocked with gunfire and arrows. The once orderly piles of machinery and lumber had been knocked around, scattered across the ground. The lights were more or less still going, although some of them had been knocked out. The odd scorch mark permeated the surroundings, someone had decided to get friendly with explosives, or a flamethrower, and had been shooting everywhere. A truck had been turned right over, another one was a burnt wreck, the ashes still glowing.  
Of course, all of that paled in comparison to the corpses that still decorated the place.  
There was the militiaman who had had his head smashed into the wall several times.  
The na'vi brave, stabbed repeatedly and lying in a pool of blood.  
The lumberjack pinned to the wall by arrows.  
Another militiaman, with both his arm and head hacked off.  
A young na'vi woman, arrows in her back.  
Another militiaman slouched through a broken window.  
A lumberjack dangling on a ladder, legs still hooked on the rungs.  
The list went on.  
"Eywa…" Mu'kala breathed wild eyed. "Who would do such a thing?"  
His eye caught movement. He turned towards the biggest building in the whole compound: the mining administration.  
The building still had some power. Light shined out of the reinforced windows.  
A shadow crossed one of these windows.  
"Shit, someone there?"

* * *

"So do you think they might be related?" Alex asked Neytiri.  
"What's related?"  
"The attack on the convoy and the thing with you and the Khalistheya, do you think they might have been done by the same people?"  
The human and the na'vi had managed to find their way back onto the road at this point. Instead of trekking through a dangerous swamp, they now had to walk down the road until they hit something. They still couldn't find anyone else. At least they didn't have to worry about killer Pandoran crocodiles.  
"It certainly can't be a coincidence." She said kicking a stone. "Yeah, I'd have to say they're connected."  
Alex kept an eye on the forest. He didn't want to be jumped by any animals. He once heard of a creature that could kill a man from a distance by firing its _head_, at the prey, although he had never seen one before.  
"Why do you think they'd want to do this?" he asked.  
"Well aside from the fact you're all sky people…" Neytiri began. "There's-"  
She trailed off and stopped in her tracks.  
"What?-"Alex began. Then he saw it too. He got his shotgun out.  
The militiaman was hanging in the trees. Alex recognized it as the radioman. He wasn't hanging from one rope around his neck or anything, he was dangling from what could be best described as a tangle, or a web, or a net of ropes and vines. He was hanging there like a drowned body in the water, arms flopped down. His dead eyes stared down, as if he regarded the ground as something trying to kill him.  
He still had a few arrows in his back.  
Alex frantically looked around. "We need to get moving." He whispered. "NOW."  
They broke into full run. They had just started to take the next bend, when they stopped right in their tracks.

The na'vi that stood before them wasn't dressed in the style of garb the Omaticaya wore. His hair was dreadlocked, not braided. The cloth that he wore was of a different weave. His arms and feet were covered in what looked like wicker bracers and shin guards. And he was covered in body paint. At least Alex hoped it was paint. It was red in colour, and it made strange designs on his body. Alex could barely see the man's eyes. He couldn't tell who it was.  
Neytiri stopped breathing. Alex took this to mean that this guy was one of the Khalistheya.  
"What do you want?" Alex asked. He felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest.  
At first the man didn't do anything. The tension was palpable in Alex's mind. Then the man did something Alex wished he did not do.

He smiled.

That smile, easily counted to Alex as The Scariest Fucking Thing He Ever Saw. It was a huge, twisted, _evil_ smile that stretched across the na'vi man's face. Alex raised his gun at him.  
"We've all missed you Neytiri." The man said in horrible, sing-song voice. "Hesh'ka's been _really_ disappointed when you left so early."  
Neytiri stared at him in a different way. She was still on guard. And terrified, but now she looked a little curious.  
"What's wrong with you?" she whispered. "You weren't like this when I left."  
"Wrong?" the man beamed. "I'm fine! I've felt like I've got so much off of my chest!" he turned to Alex. "And he I was thinking that my friends had managed to get everyone in that convoy…"  
As the man was talking in that horrible voice, Alex noticed something about his face. At first he thought that it had been painted in more of that red war paint that covered his body. Then he realised that the markings on his face seemed to be of a different texture to the paint on his body.  
Then he knew that it wasn't paint. It was dried blood. Blood that had been bleeding out of his eyes and nose.  
"We are not coming with you." Neytiri whispered firmly.  
"What?" the man said. He didn't look so happy anymore. "Now that is just _rude_. You've all of my friend's feelings!"  
Alex's eyes glanced around. There was other na'vi around them, keeping their distance for now. He could tell from only a cursory glance that they looked more or less the same: worst kind of crazy.  
"Neytiri, on my go, run." He whispered in English.  
"What?"  
"What did you just say tawtute?" the man said displeased. "I don't catch what tongue you were speaking in." He was starting to get really threatening.  
Alex knew that however this was going to play out, one of them would probably get the chop. The only thing that they could really do now was to hope that one of them would get away to warn the others.  
They way Alex saw it, the one who gets away might as well be the mother and future Tsahik.  
"Are you ready?" Alex whispered.  
"Ready."

Alex turned back to the crazy na'vi in front of him. "Right," he began. "I was just saying to her that…"  
Right in mid-sentence, Alex blasted the man's head right off with a shotgun blast. The head practically sailed right off, a few metres down the road. Neytiri started to sprint in the same direction.  
Right away the other na'vi howled and rushed at Alex. In return, he started to blast at them wildly with his gun. They screamed and howled at him, but Alex couldn't worry about that.  
He started to get a headache as well. He couldn't worry about that.  
He managed to take a quick glance towards where Neytiri was going. She had managed to run a hundred or so metres and was nearly off the path before a na'vi tackled her to the ground.  
"Shit Fuck Piss!" he shouted. He blasted one na'vi to the ground before another batted his gun out of his hands. He was nearly swatted aside, but he brandished the knife he kept on him and rammed the madman away from him.  
Now he was starting to get dizzy.  
Two great arms hugged around him from behind, pinning him and lifting him up, like child being dragged out of a play fight. He started to struggle like crazy, roaring a multitude of profanities at his attackers. He nearly managed to struggle out of the grip, his exo suit gave him about the same level of strength as any na'vi, but these guys were_ tough_.  
He was then slammed down into the ground, forcing him on his ass and knocking the wind out of him. He made an effort to get up, but a foot slammed into his face. He tasted blood.  
Not just in his mouth either.  
The last thing he remembered was a bloody faced na'vi woman smiling in a triumphantly evil way, before she introduced her fist to his face, causing his mind to explode into a thousand shards.  
Then there was nothing.

* * *

Jake took stock of the people before him.  
About a third of the humans from the colony had managed to escape. They were resting against the trees, sitting on the ground, leaning on one of the three APC's that managed to get out, tending to wounds and keeping a watch out. Some of them were miners. Others were lumberjacks and there were even a few office workers. They were no warriors so Jake understood why they were scared. Others were the surviving militia and a few mercenaries. They set themselves to tend to their wounded, comfort the survivors and keep on watch for any more attacks. All in all, they weren't exactly at their best, and they had to rely his people for advice on what to do now.  
On the other hand were his own surviving tribesmen. They had managed to fare better than the humans when the Khalistheya struck, but about a third of them were either dead or unaccounted for. The rest were doing largely the same things that the humans were doing, except that it included getting the canoes ready for departure.  
The attack on the compound had been hell. It started when one of the lookouts reported seeing torches in the treeline. Everyone knew it could not have been the guys who had been sent out to look for the convoy; those guys had been sent in the opposite direction. Many had wanted to go to see who it was, but both Jake and Captain Smith figured it was a bad idea.  
The lights had stayed for a few minutes before they winked out of existence. Suddenly, a minute later, one of the towers holding some of the heavy auto turrets was suddenly attacked. Everyone only heard a large crunching noise, and when the shined their lights at the tower, the turret was gone. Something had just wrenched it out and made off with it. It happened three more times to the other to the other towers before someone had finally managed to shine a light at it

'It' happened to be a silent group of banshees. Nobody knew how they managed to move so quietly, what they did know was that they were manned by na'vi and they were painted in red Khalistheya colours. That's when the humans opened fire.  
At that moment, the Khalistheya really started to storm the compound. The banshees had breached gaps in the walls, and with most of the attention being diverted to them, the men and women inside the compound didn't see the horde coming in time.  
The actual battle was a sordid affair that Jake rather wanted to forget. He did think about the time one of his warriors was willing to carry wounded humans to safety. Or the time that lumberjack went at the enemy with a chainsaw.  
But everyone could tell that the attack was going to succeed. Captain Smith had been thrown out a window when the attackers stormed the administration block. The foreman suffered a rather grim end, and as a result Noh was the only human with any real capacity to lead now.  
It was at the moment when they were deliberating (or arguing) about what to do when the convoy search party that was sent to check the convoy came back. They had to circle the compound since the gates were closed, but there were enough Khalistheya all around to keep them busy. It was at this point Jake figured now was the best time to go and make a break for the canoes where he and his tribe came in from. Noh was inclined to agree.  
The rest was a matter of piling everyone into whatever vehicles there were and making a break for it. The rest was history.

As Jake thought about the state of the people around him, that insipid voice crept back into his mind.  
_Do you really think that you can save them both?_  
"I need to." Jake whispered. "If not, my people will be blamed for the attack and we'll all burn for it."  
_Aw there it is._ the voice sneered. _You're not helping them from the bottom of your heart. You're just helping them because it's good for you._  
"Shut up!" he hissed. "I would have helped them anyways!"  
_Sure you would. But even so, you know that you can't keep them on your side. It's siding with them that's probably caused the reason for the attack.  
_"Chieftain?" a voice asked. "Are you okay?"  
Jake looked to find Shee'kana. The fight at the mines had left her battered, bloodied and a little in shock, but she was showing remarkable amounts of strength in keeping it together for a young brave.  
"I'm fine Shee'kana." He answered in a distracted fashion. "Really."  
"Well… if you say so." She said in a suspicious fashion. "Anyway, I've just come to say that there's enough space on the canoes for both us, the humans and a few more."  
"Thank you Shee'kana."  
"Oh yes, that human leader? He said he was going to talk to you soon." She walked away.  
_Aw fuck, not him…_

Jake knew he wasn't going to like the next part. It wasn't as if Noh was a bad guy. It was just that he and Noh really grated together. The man was always snarking, always poking fun, never taking anything at face value. He always seemed to sniff whenever he heard any of his people's stories or how the land worked. He was almost impossible to work with and Jake still could not figure out why.  
Sure enough, the exo-suited man started to walk up.  
"Jake, we've got a problem."  
"What is it?"  
"One of our miners here, Victoria I think her name is, she's out cold right now, but we can't find her kid."  
"She had a kid out by the mines?"  
"Don't know the details. I think it was some kind of take daughter to work thing. She's the only kid I know who's around here."  
"You sure?"  
"Positive. We have to get back."  
Jake frowned. "We can't, that's too dangerous."  
Noh flashed a Look. "Jake, this is a fucking child we're talking about-"  
"Noh, I've got your people, and my own to take care of. There's a tribe of crazy na'vi out there, and we're not even sure that this spot is secure. We can't risk it."  
"But-"  
"You can go yourself if you want, but I'm not risking any of my own with you. Do you understand?"  
Noh stared at him. "Fine." He muttered. He took a look around. "Isn't it nice to know that this isn't your kid we're talking about?"  
The temperature in the forest rose by a fraction.  
"She is safe right now, at home." He quietly snarled. "Leave her out of this. Go and watch the dark"  
"I don't take orders from you, _chieftain_." The sergeant snarled back. "Unlike you, I'm still human, remember? Last time I remembered, you introduced yourself as a na'vi, not human."  
"How 'bout I introduce my fist to your face!"  
A slightly nervous voice started up from the side. "If I might get this back on track…"

Jake and Noh turned to see Dwight standing to the side. He had some bandages over his head from when a madman swiped at him, but otherwise he was okay.  
"I'm just here to say that the rest of us humans are still okay with staying here for an hour or so." He said in an uncomfortable fashion. "We were also talking to the na'vi guys and they're okay with the idea as well."  
Jake turned around and shouted towards Shee'kana. "Hey! Are you okay with staying here in the dark while we wait for anyone else to come?"  
"We all are chieftain."  
"Well…" Noh smiled, clapping his hands together. "I guess that's one thing our peoples have to agree on." He looked back at Jake. "Ain't the spirit of cooperation grand?"  
"I guess…" Jake muttered grudgingly.  
"Makes you think that both of our species, human and na'vi alike, are actually worth a damn huh?"  
"I hate working with you so much."  
"I know!" Noh beamed. "Isn't it great?"


	19. Chapter 19: Child

**Child.**

The door to the admin block had already been bashed in a while ago, so getting inside wasn't too much of an issue for Mu'kala. He stepped over another Khalistheya corpse, this one having most of its chest shot away and stepped inside, banging his head on the ceiling.  
As he made his way through the warzone of cubicles and offices, blown out wall and failed barricades, he started to feel an undeniable feeling of dread. He remembered that Jake's wife was in the process of visiting the Khalistheya. Right now, any number of things could have happened to them. Most of them would not be good.  
He crept past a cubicle that had partially collapsed when a Khalistheya man had fallen on it. He could see that the body in question had had one of its arms shot off, lots of bullet holes all over him, and most of his entrails smearing behind him. He noticed that most of the blood indicated he had first started getting killed several metres away before finally collapsing on the ground. Either the humans were being uncharacteristically wasteful, or the Khalistheya man had somehow simply ignored the gunshots up until that point. Mu'kala was slightly amazed that this man had simply ignored his wounds. A little scared too.  
He shivered as he stepped over a bloody corpse. The silence was getting to him.  
He heard a rustling on the floor above him.  
He stopped breathing. Something small, but possibly dangerous was up there. He moved to the stairwell.

The sounds continued as he crept up the stairwell. He had just entered into another cubicle farm, when he yet again, banged his head on the ceiling. He cursed, rubbing his head.  
_Why can't these humans ever build bigger buildings?_  
The noise stopped dead. Whatever was making the noise must have heard the na'vis cursing.  
Mu'kala stood perfectly silent. Around him, the cube farm hadn't really changed. Mu'kala guessed that the noise must have come from one of the adjoining rooms.  
He looked past the first door. All it had was empty cardboard boxes. Mu'kala double checked to make sure that no one was hiding under them. He looked past the second door. All that contained was just some booths with those weird basins of water. He still couldn't figure out what exactly they did. Finally, he looked past the third door. It appeared to be yet another storeroom, except it had lockers and shelves as opposed to more of those boxes.  
Mu'kala stood very quietly in the doorway. Something about this room was different.  
_There._ He could hear something inside one of the lockers.  
It was quiet breathing.

Mu'kala got his knife out and crept up to the locker. He wasn't sure what he was going to find. Probably something on the lines of house cat.  
As his fingers curled around the handle, he gripped his knife carefully.  
He swiftly opened the door. A frightened cry came out as he did so.  
There in the corner of the locker, a small child sat. Unlike the rest of the colonists, she didn't wear an exo-suit on account of her being a minor. Instead of a uniform or anything like that she wore small canvas pants and an orange t-shirt. Her blonde hair was gathered in two pigtails on the bottom of her head, while her face was covered in freckles.  
She sat in the corner of the locker, frightened of the giant blue man standing over her.  
"Are… Are you okay?" Mu'kala asked slowly.

"Uh, yeah, I am." The child said in a quickened, chirpy tone. "Are you one of the good na'vi?"  
"Um… yeah?"  
"Oh good." She said relieved. "Because one of those nice militiamen put me in here, and told me to keep real quiet and not to open the door to anyone, unless they were good humans or na'vi, otherwise a monster would eat me. I'm not sure what's going on, do you know what's going on? Because I don't."  
Mu'kala did his best to quickly translate that slurry of English inside his head. At least he got the last bit. "Erm… no?"  
"Oh, then do I stay in here, or do I come with you? Because it's really cramped in here and I want to go outside. This place is too quiet."  
Mu'kala paused for a while. "Do you know if there's anybody else here?"  
"Don't know, there was a big ruckus outside a long while ago, and when I asked what it was, the militiaman told me to hide in here. There was a lot of shouting and yelling and shoving and shooting, but after a while it's just been quiet for ages. I was about to open the door outside, but I heard someone, so I ran back in here. It was probably a monster, do you think it was a monster?"  
"Um, that was probably me."  
"Oh sorry, I thought you were a monster, I'm sorry."  
"Uh, that's okay…."  
"Can I come with you? I don't know what to do. I want to see mom again. Do you know where she is?"  
Mu'kala looked at the child in front of him.  
What really got to him was just how _tiny_ she was. She must have been twelve or something, but she was barely as big as a na'vi baby. He could probably carry her in a pack. It also boggled him as to how much energy there was within her. She could probably tear apart a na'vi feast at the rate she went. Mu'kala guessed that she must not have seen any of the violence that was outside. Just as well.  
There was also another thing about her that got to Mu'kala.  
He certainly wasn't just going to leave her here.

"Look, uh, what's your name?" He began.  
"Lauryl. What's your name?"  
"Oh, Mu'kala. Listen, it's not safe here. I can take you to safe place."  
"I don't know, mom told me not to trust strangers, and I don't know you, so-"  
"I'll carry you on my back?" Mu'kala interrupted hopefully.  
"Oh, goody!" she squealed. "A piggyback ride! I love piggyback rides, do you love piggyback rides?"  
"I… used to…" he said uncomfortably.  
"Oh, you must be too big for them, that's why. Can you help me up on your back?"  
"Sure." Mu'kala stooped down to allow Lauryl to clamber on. Due to the almost comical size differences, Lauryl eventually settled for hooking her legs in the rawhide straps that helped to support Mu'kala's gear and she held on to his lower neck for support.  
"_Gawk_, don't hold so hard!" he protested  
"Sorry. Can we go now?"  
"Right, yes we can. But before we go out…" he said getting a strip of fabric out. "I need to blind fold you for now…"

* * *

"Are you guys okay?" the militiaman at the perimeter called out.  
"We're both fine, I think…" the na'vi said walking over with Emile in tow.  
"What's wrong with this guy?"  
"I think it's just shock… not sure what scared him though…"  
The survivors near the river were starting to get back into gear. Already a couple of stragglers had managed to make their way over. Some of them were na'vi who knew where to go; others were humans who followed the lights.

As they went to sit down, the humans and na'vi alike heard something rustling in the bushes. Guns and bows were instantly raised at the source.  
"Don't shoot!" a human voice shouted in some nervousness. A human mechanic stepped out of the greenery with his hands raised. "I'm just a mechanic… Don't shoot!" He still wore his standard issue exo-suit and overalls, except this time he was caked in mud and scratched all over. He was beaten down, tired and weary.  
The guards lowered their weapons. One of them helped the man get over. "I thought we managed to get all the colonists out alive. Who are you?"  
"Yeah, well… I was kind of hiding in a closet when the order to leave came." He brushed some dirt off. "Gage Hudson. I work the machines back there."  
"You made your way over here by yourself?"  
"Pretty much." The mechanic looked back. "I didn't see anybody else…"  
"Well, you're not the only guy who made it back here in one piece." A militia woman replied. "Stragglers from the convoy and the compound have made it back here."  
One of the na'vi tribesman, Shee'kana, tapped the mechanics shoulder. "Did you see anything at all strange?"  
Gage looked a little uncomfortable. "I did see some of those crazy na'vi with torches in the distance." He replied. "But I don't think they saw me."  
"Where did you say they were?" a militiaman questioned.  
Gage told them that they were roughly in the direction of the mountains.

"Just as I thought." Shee'kana muttered.  
One of the militiamen, who understood na'vi, asked him what she meant.  
"All of the guys we've been picking up said that there was Khalistheya in the direction of the mountains right?"  
"Right?"  
"That's not right. The Khalistheya don't live in the mountains, they live in the swamps."  
"So?"  
"So that's where they are, and I'm betting that's where any of the prisoners are."  
The others around her, did a double take.  
"What the hell makes you think they take prisoners?"  
"Well, we certainly haven't found those bodies from the convoy yet haven't we?" she smiled. "I'd bet they're still out there."  
Before anybody could respond, a furious argument began back where the other survivors were.  
"_What do you mean 'we didn't know she was around'?"_ a human woman roared. "WHERE IS SHE?"

* * *

"So, it's not usually this dark out here is it? Because all of the videos that I see of this place tell me that it's supposed to be really bright in the forest at night, from all of the glowing and the bioluminescence. I learned that word at school. It's a cool word, I think it's a cool word, do you think it's a cool word? Oh well, I heard that there's an animal out here that actually hunts by shooting it's head at prey. Wouldn't that kill it? I heard that there was this other animal that could run as fast as a car, do you think that's true? It could be true; I think it might be true. I once saw mountain banshee circle the colony…"  
_Eywa's Mercy…_ Mu'kala fumed. _Doesn't this child know how to shut up at some point!"  
_When they had managed to get out of the compound, Mu'kala agreed to take off the blindfold. They then proceeded to make their way to the canoes where Mu'kala was willing to bet the others were waiting. Guided by the moonlight, he hoped that they didn't leave already.  
Despite the fact that the dark woods scared the hell out of Mu'kala, the human child didn't seem to care. For a start, she continued to constantly chatter about pretty much everything. Non-stop.  
"Do you have any kids at your Hometree? I'd like to meet them, I wonder what games they play, do they slide off the tree like a giant slidy thingy? How do they climb up something that's so big? Is there a playground? They don't have a playground back at the colony. They say there's not enough space for something like that. I wish there was a playground." She turned around as they passed a tree. "Oh look!"

"What, what?" Mu'kala turned, expecting to find something horrible.  
"The Cat's Ear!" she said pointing at some cats ear shaped fungus on the walls. "It turned when we passed! It really does follow you around!" Sure enough, the fungus, was turning to face them as they moved. It did that to anything that passed.  
Mu'kala sighed. "Yes Lauryl, it does that, let's get moving."  
"This forest is actually kind of cool in the dark. I like the dark. So many places to hide, hide and seek would be awesome. And-"  
Mu'kala actually stopped for a second after hearing the dark bit. "Wait, you actually _like_ darkness?"  
"Ooh yes!" she continued. "I love playing hide and seek in the dark. I used to play hide and seek whenever the power went away back home. Everything is so much cooler in the dark. Do you think that sometimes?"  
Mu'kala was quite frankly stunned. He couldn't possibly see how someone could possibly like something as unnatural as darkness….  
"Whoa, what was that?" she asked.  
Mu'kala heard the sound as well. He hunkered down. "Stay quiet."  
"Why do you-"  
"I said _stay quiet!_" he hissed.

* * *

When Lauryl had managed to get off of his back, they managed to see what was making the rustling.  
A na'vi was running through the trees. He looked like one of the hunters that went along the trip to investigate the convoy. He was bruised and battered and his strappings were torn and tattered. Most of all, he was quite visibly terrified.  
Mu'kala was just about to call him over, when an arrow slammed into the runner's leg. The man screamed and tripped up, his face smacking into the ground.  
Lauryl gasped. She was about to say something, when Mu'kala clasped a hand over her face, taking care not to choke her. "Not a word."

The runner tried to get back up again. His faced was caked in mud, and Mu'kala could pick out the tears of fear and panic in his eye. The runner tried to frantically limp on, but he was more or less reduced to crawling for his life.  
That was when the shooters appeared. The Khalistheya hunter was accompanied by a friend. They looked more or less the same; war paint, war gear and faces streaked in blood. They were both carrying bows. One of them had a torch, the flames casting cruel shadows across the forest.  
The na'vi hunter kept crawling away in horror. "Please!" he cried, voice breaking in terror. "I'm a na'vi like you! I wouldn't harm you!"  
"You won't." one of the hunters answered.  
The hunter smashed his foot onto the runner's head. The force made Mu'kala wince. The runner lay slumped on the ground.  
"He still alive?" the other hunter more or less snarled.  
"Yeah." The stomper smirked. He started to hold the man up. "C'mon, let's drag him to the others."  
The other hunter began to get the runner's legs.  
Mu'kala braced himself. He certainly wasn't going to let them get away with this. He started to get up. "Stay here." He whispered.  
"No!" she whispered. "There's another one!"  
Mu'kala looked back.  
_Shit_  
Sure enough, there was a third Khalistheya hunter. He was standing a little out of the way of the others, spears in hand. He was scanning the surroundings. Especially the area Mu'kala and Lauryl were hiding in.  
_How did I miss him?_  
The hunter must have heard something. He was certainly looking pretty hard.  
But he didn't see them. He shrugged and walked back to the others, satisfied with what he saw.

As the light from the hunters torch faded away, Mu'kala turned to Lauryl.  
"How did you see him?" he asked.  
The child shrugged. "He was hiding. And I'm good at playing hide and seek."  
_And you can probably see better in the dark. _Mu'kala figured. If she hadn't said anything….  
"Come on." Mu'kala said, getting on his knees. "Let's get moving."

They continued to walk through the forest. Lauryl had noticeably become quieter. That actually crept Mu'kala a little.  
"Are you okay little one?" he asked.  
Lauryl was quiet for a few seconds before asking "Were those bad na'vi back there?"  
"Yes, yes they were." He said reassuringly.  
"Why did they do that to that poor na'vi?"  
"I don't know." He answered. "I really don't know."  
"They looked angry."  
"I guess."  
"Why do you think they were angry?"  
"I don't know, okay?"  
There was a little bit of silence as they progressed on.  
"You do know, don't you?" the girl asked.  
Mu'kala sighed. "They've never agreed with us. They've kind of always been that way, but I've never figured they'd be like this." He looked around. "Something must be wrong with them…. They can't be this bad."  
"Maybe they are."  
"What do you know?"  
"Back home, dad used to help fight all sorts of bad guys." She replied. "He once told me that the worst darkness isn't what you can see."  
Mu'kala frowned. "Then where did he say it is?"  
"He said the worst darkness is found in people's hearts."  
As Mu'kala did his best to try to figure out what she meant, Lauryl suddenly tapped his shoulder.  
"Look! Lights!"

* * *

Mu'kala could see the glowing through the trees. There was the lively flickering of flaming torches, but there was also the constant, sterile glow of the humans. For once, Mu'kala was glad to see those as well.  
That's when they heard the voices.  
"Let me go you bastards!" a woman's voice shouted "We've got to find her!"  
"Ma'am we can't do that, it's too dangerous."  
"I'm not worried about me! But my fucking daughter is out there! I need to find her!"  
"She's probably hiding in the buildings somewhere…"  
"You don't know that! You let me through right now, or I swear to god, I'll smash you'll face into a tree."  
Mu'kala looked pass the trees. There space up ahead was guarded by a bunch of human militia and na'vi hunters. They had set up lights across the space in front of them so they could better keep watch. The most visible aspect however, was the blonde colonist woman arguing with the militia. She wore the uniform of the miners, minus the reflective vest and jacket. Her hair had been let down, coming up to shoulder length, and her face was red in rage.  
"Ms Halverson, I know it looks bad, but there's still a good chance she's still-"  
Lauryl beamed. "That's mom!" she waved her hands up. "Mom! Mom, I'm over here."  
The humans and the na'vi turned "What the fuck-" one of them began.  
"Lauryl!" the woman stared. "Lauryl!"  
The humans raised their guns and flashlights at the pair. They were somewhat shocked to see a scarred na'vi hunter giving a human child a piggyback, while recoiling from the sudden glare.  
The started to get off Mu'kala's back. "Mom, it's me!"  
"Lauryl!" the mother cried.  
The resulting scene played like anyone would expect it to. Lauryl rushed to her mother's arms while the rest looked on. The mother started to cry tears of joy. A couple of humans silently expected someone to play tear-jerking music.

As Mu'kala walked up, Lauryl started to revert back to her normal talkative self. "Mom, this nice na'vi man helped here! I know that you told me not to trust strangers, but there was no one else, and he gave me a piggyback ride here! It was really cool, and I got to see the forest too, which could have gone better, because it was night, and it was dark and stuff, but I got to see some cool stuff, and I even saw the cats ear move with me! And-"  
"I know Lauryl. I know." The mother sniffed. She turned and looked up to Mu'kala. "I don't know if you can understand me-"  
"I can understand you." He interjected.  
"Right… Well, I still don't know how to say this… but thank you." She managed to wipe the tears away. "I wasn't sure that she'd be okay…"  
"She is now. That's what matters." Mu'kala answered.

* * *

As Mu'kala watched the mother and child walk back to the others, a human militiaman walked up to him.  
"I don't know how you found her, but god bless you man." He said in a heavy voice. "I'm not sure what Old Hellboy would do if something happened to her…"  
"Old Hellboy?" Mu'kala queried. "Isn't that the name of your chieftain?"  
"What? Oh uh, yes, not officially, but yes…"  
"Why would he be worried?"  
"Well, he's her father of course." he shrugged. "And her mother, Victoria, worked the mines. Lauryl was there to visit her mom or something."  
"What, I've rescued the heir to the tribe or something?"  
"Well, no. We're not royalty." The militiaman shrugged. (Mu'kala didn't know what royalty meant, but he guessed it had something to do with heirs or something) "But I don't know what the two of them would do without her."  
Mu'kala took a heavy breath. "They're not the only ones who wouldn't know what to do if there family was gone."  
"Mu'kala!" a voice spoke out. He turned. His Chieftain was walking up to meet him.  
"It's nice to see that you're still with us Mu'kala." Jake said. "And I just heard what you did."  
"It was nothing."  
"Hey, don't sell yourself short-"  
"Chieftain listen..." Mu'kala interrupted. "There are other survivors out there."  
Jake stopped looking congratulatory and took on his serious disposition again. "What, are they okay?"  
"No. The Khalistheya have them."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I saw two of them take Breka away." He answered. "They shot his leg with an arrow, but they took him in alive. They must have done the same with the others."  
Shee'kana looked back triumphantly. "See! What did I tell you?"  
"Shee'kana shut it, where did you say they were taking him?"  
"In the direction of the mountains." He answered. "That's where the others must be."

* * *

_Alex opened his eyes up. He didn't feel that bad, all things considered.  
"Huh…" he muttered. "Wonder where the psychos went…"  
He started to pick himself up off the ground. He did so with care, he was still feeling dizzy. He nearly fell on his face at one point. At least the headache was gone.  
When he finally got back to his feet, he took a look around. The full moon was gone completely, and the glow still wasn't back. That didn't seem to be a problem. The place was still reasonably well lit.  
In sepia and black and white.  
_Ah great…._ Alex thought. _I'm _here_ again aren't I?


	20. Chapter 20: Nightmare

**Nightmare.**

_Alex walked through the forest. Or the darklands. Whatever, he certainly wasn't on Pandora anymore.  
There wasn't really a lot he could do. He had sat in where he had woken up for a while, but when nothing happened, he decided to go for a walk. He didn't have any idea where he was going, but that didn't really matter to him. He didn't have a clue of what else he could do.  
He turned to look at his surroundings. The world was largely as he remembered when he was here last time. He felt immaterial, like he was there, yet at the same time, not there. The forest still didn't glow, but that didn't really detract from the lighting of the place. What was the real problem, was the fact that it was still 'foggy' as it was. Alex walked along the forest road, without any idea where he was going. Alex thought he saw things moving through the fog, but it was probably just tricks of his mind.  
The real big difference this time was that there wasn't any sound. Of course Alex could hear the sound of his footsteps and his own breathing, but aside from the trees swaying in the wind, the place was as quiet as in the real world. There was no mysterious sounds coming from-_

What was that?_ His face shot around. He thought that he heard footsteps in the forest. There was nothing.  
Alex sighed and continued onwards. He started to brood on what had previously happened to himself and Neytiri. Best case scenario was that he and (hopefully) Neytiri were unconscious on the side of the road. Worst case was that he was dead, and that he now had the honour of visiting the afterlife twice. That would suck.  
He thought about the men who had attacked them on the road. They certainly weren't normal. A lot of people would quite possibly call them psychotic. Alex doubted that any of the na'vi would have known what was going on with them. One thing for certain though, was that he had seen such things before. Only this time, those afflicted with the bleeding had just turned into insane berserkers. Not Good. Alex wondered why none of the Omaticaya had turned into them.  
Alex's head twitched again. He thought he heard something moving in the back. There was nothing._

_He sighed, exasperated. He kept moving. He thought about how the others were faring. He sincerely doubted that everyone was dead, but he still-  
A twig snapped. Alex instantly spun. He saw a man sized shadow dart past a tree._

"_Okay come out!" he shouted. "I know you're there!"  
Nothing moved from behind the trees. It didn't deter him.  
"Enough with the Mysterio bullshit!" he shouted in frustration. "Come on out here and talk to me like a fucking man!"  
A sound like someone shifting their posture was heard from behind the tree.  
Alex didn't have a weapon on himself, but he couldn't care less. He was confused, tired and in the middle of Grade-A Weird Shit. He went up to the tree.  
"Come on and face me!" he snapped as he went around the tree.  
He wasn't expecting to see what was in front of him._

* * *

_It was a human alright. But he wasn't a colonist. Or a mercenary. In fact, he didn't belong on Pandora at all.  
He wore the sort of clothing you'd expect a civilian in the East Coast Sprawl to wear. Jacket, white shirt, trousers, shoes, the usual. The face however was someone who Alex thought was dead.  
Someone else had worn that face a long time ago. He was a pimp, a sleazebag by the name of Harman Garcia. He was a lowlife who thought he could get what he wanted by shouting at his subordinates to do what he demanded. He pushed drugs to the vagrants and kept his whores enslaved by hooking them on psychoactives. He had links to the criminal families who had vied for control for Toronto since forever.  
He was also the first person that Alex had ever killed.  
"Surprised to see me?" the man gloated. He was holding a magnum revolver in his hands, pointed at Alex's chest.  
Alex stood where he was. He wasn't actually surprised as he thought he would be. Sure, it took him a triple take to get what he was seeing, but his face didn't exactly say 'OMGWTF!' Instead, he stood and stared evenly at the man he was looking at.  
"Not really." He answered.  
"Oh, is that so?" the scumbag said amused.  
"Well, enough weird shit _has_ happened to me." He shrugged. "I probably wouldn't be too surprised if I saw Colonel Quaritch turn up here and sing an opera."  
"Indeed." Harman smiled. "I've been waiting a long time for this."  
Alex narrowed his eyes. "You're not Harman at all, aren't you?" he asked.  
"What, do you think I'm some kind of hallucination?" Harman laughed. "That I'm just a figment of your imagination? Better not be. You won't be able to rationalize your way out of a bullet to the head."  
"Oh I wasn't thinking about _that._" Alex smiled. "It's just that the Harman Garcia that I knew was a pathetic worm of a pimp, who didn't even stand to fight until all of his lackeys were dead, and even when he did fight back, he was so scared shitless, he emptied his entire clip across the whole room trying to kill me." He smirked mockingly. "And he even started to cry like a little girl while he was bleeding out on route to the hospital."  
The criminal flashed red in rage. "Well now, you're going to be fucking dead Garnett." He spat unimaginatively. "You'll be dead, and I'll be-"  
"I didn't come alone idiot."  
"What?"  
"Neytiri, now!" Alex shouted to his invisible compatriot.  
Of course there was no Neytiri. That would be silly. But just as Alex predicted, Harman was stupid enough to turn around to meet his (non-existent) attacker. By the time he realised that it was a ruse, Alex had already started to grapple for control of the gun.  
One thing that Alex did give the criminal credit was that he was impressively strong. Alex's exo-suit didn't seem to be working right. They wound up struggling ten long seconds for the gun, before Alex finally managed to force Harman to the ground. He aimed the pistol at the angry face.  
"Yep, you're definitely Harman." He sighed.  
He fired. Harman's face seemed to explode as one would expect a head hit by an explosive magnum round. But the head didn't explode in gore. Instead, it just burst into black shadow. The rest of the body followed suit, dissolving away into shadow, leaving nothing behind._

_Alex continued to stare at the patch of ground where Harman stood.  
"Right." He said to himself. "He just dissolved into nothing." He shook his head. "Why does that not faze me?"  
"Is there someone there?" a voice whispered.  
Alex spun around. He looked back, hoping to find the road. Instead, there in front of him, was a dirt path cutting through the road. Alex couldn't see through the fog that it led through.  
"Hello?" he called out. "I'm right here."  
Alex started to hear whispering. He couldn't hear what it was.  
"Hey!" he shouted. He started to jog down the path, revolver in hand. "Where are you?"  
As he started to move down the path, the voices started to intensify. They didn't seem to be decipherable. But what was more interesting was that Alex could also hear sounds as well. They were a mixed bunch. Sometimes it was the sound of bird calls, animal chirps and footsteps. Other times it would be creaking wood, rushing water and thunder. It was always natural sounds.  
Alex had been jogging down the path for what felt like a good ten minutes when he suddenly found himself jogging on pavement. That caused him to stop. He wasn't sure why on earth he was on pavement now, there were still trees flanking the path. He could still hear the whispering.  
"Hey! Whoever you are…." He shouted, breaking into a run. "Just stay there! I just want to talk to you!"  
The whispering was starting to intensify. Alex wasn't just hearing natural sounds now. He could now he the sounds of a city. There were car engines and trains, sirens and horns, machinery and music. The sounds of his old life. The old natural sounds seemed to fade away to the back. But the whispering continued.  
Alex started to pass by buildings. The trees started to drop away. He felt small as the trees were replaced by buildings so big enough that he couldn't see them all through the fog. It reminded him an awful lot about home. The path started to widen, becoming a full-fledged street. The voices were audible now._

"…_Dispatch, we're on route…"  
"….police! On the ground, now!..."  
"…news today reports…"  
"…get your rebreathers, right here!..."  
"….2-1 we are hearing reports of gunfire in…"  
"….spare a dime sir?..."  
"….do you know where I could find work?..."  
"….don't know what to say sir, but your father is…."  
"….can't find any of the papers…"  
"…gonna be late…"_

_Familiar words and voices indeed.  
Alex kept running onwards. He felt like he was going crazy. But weren't crazy people the ones who didn't think they were crazy? If that was the case, he was sane, but that would mean that he shouldn't be feeling crazy now should he? He certainly felt like he should be crazy, but then-  
_Stop it_ he grimaced. _I'm making myself crazy thinking like this._  
He ran a little further before finally encountering a dead end. In front of him was a concrete wall. You couldn't exactly argue with a brick wall. He stopped where he was and took a breather.  
He took a look around. The place had seemed to get darker. The street he was on looked nothing like the path he had walked on to get here. There were steps leading up to buildings, but there were no doors. There was garbage on the streets and there were windows on the buildings, but all they led to was darkness. There was nobody in sight.  
On top of that, the voices had stopped. There was only silence.  
Alex blinked twice. He felt funny.  
"2-1 this is dispatch." A voice crackled over his radio. "Do you copy 2-1?"  
_That's not right…_  
Alex thumbed his radio. Except he wasn't wearing his throat mike anymore. Then he noticed that he wasn't wearing his exo-suit, or his colonist fatigues. Instead, he was wearing a navy blue uniform, ballistic armor covering his chest, shoulders and shins and a few other bits and pieces. He couldn't see it, but there was also a big POLICE on the back of his vest as well.  
"2-1, do you read?"  
Alex finally found his radio attached to his shoulder. He keyed it. "2-1 here."  
"2-1 we are reporting that some of the perps have escaped the scene and are currently at 106__th__ Winchester Street."  
Alex froze. That was his street address.  
"Dispatch, can you tell me what they're doing?"  
"They appear to be entering one of the residential apartments 2-1." Dispatch replied in its calm tone. "We're sending personnel other to deal with the situation. Continue to hold your position."  
Alex started to run back down the street.  
"2-1, I said hold your position."  
Alex was close to sprinting. The street he was running in was starting to look increasingly familiar.  
"2-1, do you copy?" Dispatch shouted. "I said hold your position."  
A building appeared before Alex, coming right out of the fog. It didn't matter that this was where Alex came from, and therefore impossible, what did matter was that it was identical to his old apartment building.  
"2-1!" Dispatch shouted. The voice was about to say something else, but it simply faded into static.  
Alex crashed through the door._

_As Alex passed by the elevators and started to race up the stairs, his mind started to argue with itself.  
_The perps will be trying to get Michelle. _One side of his mind repeated zealously. _You've got to-  
Alex, get a grip on yourself!_ The other side of his mind snapped. _This is just a fucking dream! It's not real! Stop thinking that it is!  
Then why is this so fucking familiar? Alex, those perps work for the Cartels! They'll be here to kill her, to get to you!  
Alex, just stop where you are and think for a minute. This is just your mind go back over a bad memory-  
Correction! WORST memory! Alex you've got to-  
_"SHUT UP!" Alex finally hissed. He slipped up on the stairs, almost smashing his nose on the steps.  
Alex breathed._

* * *

Alex raced up the stairs. He saw the door to his home ajar. Without a moment's hesitation he crashed through it.  
"Shit!" a voice shouted. Alex turned and saw one of the perps rustling through the fridge. The thief dropped the milk in his hands and reached for the machine pistol he had left on the counter. As he laid his fingers on it, Alex shot him twice in the chest. The criminal was thrown back and slumped against the counter.  
Alex had just turned around when he heard the gunshot in the bedroom.  
He roared like a lion that had his cubs attacked. He kicked down the bedroom door with enough force to stop a car.  
The criminal had managed to fire off three rounds at Alex. Alex in turn emptied half his clip into the criminal. The biggest difference between the two was that Alex was the one with the body armor. The criminal thug was thrown back into a bleeding mess.  
That was when Alex turned, saw what was on the bed, and slumped against the wall.

* * *

_Alex gritted his teeth as he got himself back to his feet.  
_Did they hear me?_ He wondered. He heard nothing. The building was impossibly quiet. Last time he was here, they would always be sounds coming from the adjoining apartments. The place was certainly still familiar. He could still smell the burning soldering from that hacker that lived on this floor.  
He started to move up the stairs, but quietly this time. This time, he wasn't going to rush this.  
He finally made his way up to his floor. From the stairwell, he could see the door to his apartment ajar.  
This time, he didn't crash through it.  
He got his gun. It wasn't the magnum that he had 'procured' off of Harman. Instead it was his old police issue semi-auto fireman. He wasn't sure how it turned into that, and he didn't wonder why. He flipped off the safety and started to creep towards the door.  
He could hear somebody rustle through the fridge. He stayed where he was, silent, waiting for the criminal to move. Sure enough, he felt footsteps shuffling away from the fridge and towards the bedroom. He then heard a door opening and closing.  
With maximum care, he gently pushed the door open. The apartment was a mess now. Various pieces of furniture had been ransacked, the contents scattered across the floor. For a second Alex was reminded of the mess Michelle made when she couldn't find her Mister Sulu elephant plushie. He started to hear voices in the bedroom. Alex crept forward and listened. He started to hear crying as well.  
"…should've listened to his friends." One of the voices sneered. It didn't sound quite right. "You na'vi shits don't know when to just lie down and take it like fucking man."  
_Wait, what?  
_"Yeah…" another one sneered. "Ever since your daddy fucked that huntress bitch, he's been less and less human. Maybe I should stop thinking that he is one."  
"Yeah, he's been working pretty hard to pretend that he's not." A third voice smirked.  
_Third voice?_  
"Please…" a child's voice sniffed. In Na'vi. "I just want to see my dad…"  
_That's not Michelle._  
"Oh we're not taking you anywhere near him." One of the voices said. "If I remember correctly, he was the one who blew my head off at the mountains."  
"And his fuck buddy put an arrow through my eye."  
"Besides, your dad's a little busy right now. He's still trying to kill off his doubts while the barbarians at the gates butcher their way in. And of course, we can't actually get to _him_."  
"But we can get to _you_."  
"So you might as well start crying away all your tears now you little mongrel." Another voice said evilly. "'Cause right now, we might as well take all of our anger issues out on you."  
Alex didn't have time to hear what was coming next._

_Alex raised his foot and smashed the door in.  
He had only precious seconds, but he did manage to detect a few things. One; instead of a bedroom, the door led to a blank, empty room. Second; Michelle wasn't the hostage. Instead, on the chair in the middle of the room, was a familiar na'vi girl. Third; the criminals were some sort of smoky, shadowy RDA mercenaries. And finally, one of them was in the middle of drinking from a bottle of milk when he was interrupted.  
Alex ended his 'three seconds to think' rule and proceeded to shoot two of the shadow mercs. They both fell to the ground, dissolving away like Harman did. There wasn't much else to say about it. Alex managed to shoot them, they died, end of story. For them at least.  
Alex saw the other one behind the child. He was crouched behind her, holding what looked like a Wasp revolver to her head. Alex stared at him. He looked more or less like any of the mercenaries who work for an RDA paycheck. This one however, had the upper left quarter of his head blown away. In its place, moving shadow filled it. It was as if shadow had become solid and had replaced the flesh that was lost. The left eye was gone as well. In its place, was a dull dot of blood red. This and his one good eye stared back out at Alex defiantly.  
The child was terrified. She was dirty, caked in mud and looked as if someone had thrashed her something terrible. She had a shiner on one eye and she was covered in cuts and bruises.  
She was also someone that Alex had met.  
"I'll do it." The merc said. "I'll do it. I swear to god I'll do it man."  
"Miri?" Alex asked.  
"Yeah?"  
"Shut your eyes." He said lifting the pistol.  
One single gunshot echoed._

_Miri opened her eyes. The mercenary wasn't there anymore.  
Alex walked up to her. "Are you okay?" he said quietly.  
The girl in front of Alex started to cry again. "I just want to see my dad again…." She whimpered. "Why can't I?"  
Alex stood and stared at the child in front of him.  
For a few brief moments, he thought he saw Michelle in front of him.  
"Kid listen…." He said, voice breaking. "It's going to be okay."  
He gave Miri a bear hug. She cried in her arms.  
"It's all going to be okay." He said again. He fought back tears of his own.  
That was when the wall exploded outward._

* * *

_It wasn't as if the wall caved in or anything. It was as if the concrete wall fragmented like puzzle pieces. Then those pieces of concrete simply started to float off into the distance. There wasn't anything on the other side just empty space. The place was lit in orange, or more accurately, it looked like someone had painted the space dark orange. Neither Alex nor Miri could tell how far the space went.  
As they stared out, the floor before them started to change. The pieces of concrete came back and started to reassemble themselves. Except this time, they assembled as more floor, stretching forward in front of them for what seemed like forever.  
Alex tested the new 'bridge' with his foot. It seemed solid enough. It was hellishly uneven though, he certainly didn't want to run over it.  
Before either Miri or Alex could start to walk on it, light shone from the other side of the bridge.  
The light felt brighter than the sun. Both the human and the na'vi child had to shield their eyes. Alex couldn't see what it was.  
Miri started to move towards the light, Alex more or less followed.  
But as they started to get closer, the light started to shift colour. It became dull red, and started to get even brighter. Too bright. The light started to burn and Alex could still see sunspots whenever he closed his eyes.  
They started to hear sounds coming from the other side. Screaming, roaring, rage, crying and hatred. Not good.  
"Get back!" Alex shouted to Miri. "GO!"  
They turned around and started to head back the way they came. They moved as fast as they could, trying not to trip up over the uneven concrete bridge over oblivion. The light started to chase them.  
Before they knew it, they were back in the room where they had started. The door that Alex used to get in was nowhere to be found. Now there was nowhere to run.  
"What do we do?" Miri cried. She was going through something children shouldn't need to go through. The screaming started to get closer.  
That was when the _other_ wall collapsed.  
Unlike the last wall, the pieces started to reassemble immediately. The big difference was that while the other one led into empty space and light, this path led to impenetrable shadow and darkness. It was like a tunnel, not a bridge.  
The shadow on the other side seemed to move in front of them. Alex could see figures in front of him. Some of them were as tall as a na'vi, others had to be human shaped. They were all cast in shadows, obscuring their faces and clothing, but Alex could pick up a detail here or there: a bit of tactical armor here, a na'vi ponytail there, a foot there, a bit of skin there. No colours, but he could just see details. The one thing that did stand out was the eyes. All of their eyes glowed with a multitude of colours, from orange, to green to blue to even red. And all of them echoed in whispering.  
"This way!" an American woman's voice echoed… somehow. "But only one of you can come. We can only protect one of you right now."  
"Wh-why?"  
"No time! Just get the kid's ass in here!"  
Alex turned to Miri. "Miri, did you hear that?"  
"Yes…"  
"Good, 'cause you're going down the path here."  
"But it's too dark-"  
"Doesn't matter! Darkness isn't a bad thing!" he shouted. He pushed Miri down the path. As she moved down, the bridge behind her collapsed, stranding Alex where he was.  
"Just keep running!" he shouted. "Just hide in the shadow!"  
Alex turned around just in time for the light to take him._

* * *

Alex's eyes started to open slowly. The fact that one of them had swollen meant that this wasn't easy.  
He started to slowly regain his other senses. He could hear moving, rustling and branches being pushed away. It sounded like something was being dragged.  
As he regained feeling in his own body, he realised that he was being carried by somebody. Most likely a na'vi, judging by the fact he was over the back of somebody's shoulder.  
He spat out some blood and groaned. He was hoping that the people who were carrying him were here to help.  
"I think the tawtute is still alive." A voice in na'vi said.  
"They're tougher than they look." Another one replied. "It doesn't matter; he can die with the rest of the invaders and traitors."  
Not here to help then.  
Alex wasn't in any state to argue. He was sore all over; the thrashing he got must have cracked a rib or two, he still felt as if he had a concussion, he could barely see straight and his gun was gone.  
_What the hell happened?_  
He felt funny. He managed to slowly touch his own face.  
When he took his hand back, it was covered in blood. No prizes for guessing whose it was.  
Alex turned himself towards the sounds of rustling to see what was being dragged. He saw Neytiri's bloody and battered body being dragged across the ground.  
"Oh no…"  
He started to squirm a little to get a better view. A fist clocked into the back of his head. His world blurred and fragmented. He started to see the world in blurs again. He was acutely aware of the lack of headgear.  
"Stop squirming tawtute." A hunter spat. "Maybe you'll get to live a little longer than the rest."  
"Wha-…What are you doing?" he breathed.  
"You'll see."

They continued on for what felt like a good hour to Alex. Of course, when bad and horrible stuff was happening to oneself, time tends to go by pretty slowly.  
Alex meanwhile had basically resigned himself to whatever fate they had in store for him. Instead of looking back on his life however, he wasted the minutes he had musing on what horrors they were going to inflict upon him. The best case scenarios usually involved instant death. He wasn't feeling like this was going to end well.  
He had begun to start thinking about his place in the universe, when he started to hear more voices. He couldn't see very far in his state, but he was aware of lots of na'vi, around them, a big clearing with a fire in the middle, and trees all around them. He couldn't make anything else out, his vision was too blurry.  
He felt himself get hefted off the na'vi back. He was thrusted against a tree and bound against it, ropes holding his hands above his head. He was too weak to struggle. The voices started to get louder, more clear than before.  
He turned to the tree next to his. When he finally managed to focus his eyes, the first thing he saw on the tree was an Omaticaya warrior pinned to the trunk by several arrows in his chest. Judging by the blood and his still horrified, bloody face, he had been in a lot of pain when he died.  
"Oh Jesus…" he whispered.  
The scene in front of him reminded him of an occult sacrifice ritual. There wasn't a lot in the way of occult imagery, but it certainly made up for it with the blood sacrifice. In the middle of the clearing, a bonfire had been started, illuminating the clearing and casting wicked shadows everywhere. There was Khalistheya na'vi all over the place. Some of them drinking and eating, laughing hysterically while they did so. Others were keeping the fire lit with logs and other firewood, and yet others were in the process of giving the other prisoners the odd punch or kick. Almost all of them had these demented smiles that scared the living shit out of Alex. Their laughter and general psychotic happiness didn't help either.  
And then there were the other prisoners. They were a motley collection of na'vi, militia and colonist alike. Most of them were tied up against trees, or just bound up and sitting on the forest floor. Most of them at least looked conscious. They were all beaten, scarred, missing most of their gear and judging by the expressions on their faces, they were more or less nervous and terrified of what was happening.  
And finally, there was (for lack of better label) the Altar. It was more or less just a log that had been put there near the fire, in full view of everyone. The chief defining feature that it had was the bloodstains.

* * *

"I think that will be enough for now." A madman shouted when he saw Alex. "Let's do this people!"  
There was cheering as the Khalistheya got up again.  
"Do you know why we are here?" he shouted to the prisoners in what was almost a pep-talk style of voice. A few of the ones who understood na'vi nervously shook their heads.  
"Oh!" the speaker shouted. "We-ell, we'll just have to sort that misunderstanding out then huh? It's pretty simple why this happening you know." He continued. "Ever since you lot had showed up on our land, you've done nothing but pillage our world and burn our land down!"  
"But-" one human stammered.  
"No!" the speaker snapped. He gave the human a good one across the head. "That's what you ALWAYS DO! You've never come here to help us! And you have never offered us something that we didn't have before!"  
"But what about us?" a na'vi cried out. "We're not human, we're na'vi-"  
"NO YOU'RE NOT!" the speaker screamed. "You're not Na'vi! Real na'vi would fight the enemy as soon as they came, not try to make friends with the ones who will try to destroy us! Whatever na'vi-ness you had, you threw it away when you sided with them!"  
"We didn't side with them!" the protestor cried out. "We just-"  
"You didn't side with them, but you certainly didn't side AGAINST THEM!" the speaker screamed. "You are either with us, or you are against us! But we should've expected that now huh?" the speakers face turned from rage to sneering. "You have a human sleep-walker as your chieftain after all huh?"  
The protestor didn't know what to say. The speaker didn't give him a chance to think up a counter.  
"Well, it ends now!" the speaker shouted. "Our people are already testing the defences of the human's fortress AND the Omaticaya! And our hunters are already making sure that none of the other tribes interfere while we BURN YOUR PEOPLE TO THE GROUND!"  
He grabbed the nearest human: the only human mercenary amongst the prisoners. "Starting with you."

The mercenary started to panic. He started to struggle, terrified. "No! Jesus Christ NO!" The surrounding Khalistheya started to cheer. Two other na'vi more less started to carry him up, the human screaming in horror as he tried to break free. He was carried straight to the altar.  
"PLEASE!" he screamed. Alex could make out tears of panic in his eyes. "Don't kill me! Sweet Jesus don't kill me!"  
The na'vi slammed his body down on the log and let go.  
He started to get up, just in time to have a stone axe slam into the back of his head with a sickening _Thwack_. He went limp.  
The crowd started to roar with approval. The rest of the prisoners, human and na'vi alike, cried out in horror. The body was pushed off the altar by the executioner.  
"Next!" the executioner shouted.  
The madmen grabbed a prisoner from out of the corner of Alex's eyes. He was different from the other na'vi that the Khalistheya were holding prisoner. Unlike the others, he wore the tattered, patched remnants of oversized Avatar program gear.  
Alex had never really met him before, but he knew his face. He was Max Patel, one of the original Avatar scientists. Except this time, he was being more or less dragged over to the altar. He looked like he was suffering from the effects of a concussion.  
A human voice shouted out from behind Alex. "Max! Max wake up! C'mon Max, wake up! MAX!" Alex recognised Norman's voice.  
The dazed avatar didn't seem to be listening. They chucked him on the altar.  
Thwack.  
"MAX!" Norman screamed. The body was more or less pushed right off the log.  
"Next!"  
The Khalistheya grabbed an Omaticaya na'vi this time.  
"WAIT! WAIT!" he cried out as they more or less forced him onto the log. "I'm one of you! I'm-  
Thwack. The prisoners recoiled back.  
"Next!"  
The na'vi grabbed a militiaman this time. Alex recognised Mac.  
"YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" Mac roared, as they dragged him over. With his exo-suit, it was necessary for four of them to carry him over, the human kicking and screaming all the way. "YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME? YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ALL OF US! I'LL RIP OUT YOUR FUCKING PONYTAILS AND STRANGLE YOU WITH THEM! I'LL-"  
Thwack.  
"Next!"  
The na'vi started to cut Alex loose.

As they dragged him over to the altar, Alex didn't really resist. He was beaten down tired, and he didn't really think that there was going to be a heroic last minute rescue. No, chances were, he was about to die just like the others.  
He didn't really pay attention to the noise around himself. The cheering and sneering from the Khalistheya, the cries of horror from the other prisoners and the beating of the drums; everything started to blur into each other.  
As they threw him on the block, time really seemed to slow down. It must have been the adrenaline or something but he felt as if he had all the time in the world. He started to think back about the life he had. He thought of all the things he had done, all of the people he had met, liked, hated, befriended, arrested, killed and loved.  
He also thought about all of his regrets.  
He had been able to turn and look at his executioner. He was about the same as the rest of the Khalistheya, except he had more blood on him. He also had the same hideous grin. He raised his axe.  
_I'm sorry Michelle._  
And then the executioners head exploded.

Exploding wasn't really the right word for what happened. Rather, it was like an upper quarter of his head spurted out.  
Just like a sniper's headshot.  
When the corpse fell, all hell broke loose. Gunfire echoed through the clearing, arrows whistled through the air. The Khalistheya howled in rage and charged at the unseen attackers. Alex barely saw what had actually happened during the fight. Whenever he remembered it, he could only remember bits and pieces. He saw arrows and gunfire alike slamming into the Khalistheya alike. He could hear shouting from the madmen, attackers and the prisoners alike. He saw the prisoners squirming where they were, cowering in the hope that they didn't catch an arrow or a bullet in the head, and Khalistheya were dropping like flies. The gunfire deafened his ears. And then something smacked into the back of his head.

* * *

"Alex? Shit man, are you okay?" a human voice cut through Alex's mind.  
Alex started to get up slowly. "Fine…. I'm okay, I think…" he mumbled. He was steadied by the hands of Noh, who was just fresh from the battle.  
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Noh questioned.  
Alex squinted. "Three?"  
"Two. I think you've got a concussion." Noh hooked his arm around Alex's back. "C'mon. Let me get you to the doc."  
Alex looked around as he limped with Noh. Most of the Khalistheya were bleeding on the ground and dead. Aside from the way they had been taken down, there wasn't a lot that could be said about it. All around, their rescuers were securing the area, checking the enemy for tricks and helping the prisoners. To Alex's pleasant relief, his rescuers were his own militia and the Omaticaya. They were helping the prisoners get their bearings and comforting them.  
"We're sorry we couldn't get here sooner." Noh said, casting a look at some of the executed. "Shame about Mac."  
"I'm sure you did all you could Noh." Alex coughed as he started to slump against a tree. A medic started to look at his wounds. "Thanks for coming after us."  
"You should thank that na'vi girl… Shee'kana I think her name was. She's the one who knew where to look." He went and helped out the other militia.  
As the medic put bandages around his head, Alex watched the men and women, human and na'vi working together to get their wounded to safety. He briefly wondered if this attack had been a good thing. It certainly brought people together. He banished the thought away though. It was macabre to think like that.  
"You're a lucky man Alex." Neytiri's voice cut to Alex. He turned to see Neytiri limping over with both human cloth bandages and na'vi leaf wraps over her wounds. "I thought that bastard nearly killed you."  
"Yeah… Lucky me I guess…"  
"Does stuff like this happen all the time where you come from?"  
Alex shrugged. "What can I say? Weird shit happens to me all the time around here." He winced as the medic applied iodine.  
"Neytiri!" a voice shouted out.  
Alex and Neytiri turned to see Jake run over. He was in a state of shock over the sight of Neytiri.  
"What the hell are you doing here!"

* * *

"What the fuck do you mean you don't know!" Jake yelled. "WHERE IS SHE?"  
"I don't know Jake!" Norman cried out. He was still traumatised from the execution of his friend. "They took her away from us. When that-"  
"Where is she!" Jake repeated. "How could you let her go!"  
"We couldn't do squat Jake!" Norm croaked. "They took her away from us when they pounced. I don't know where she is."  
"Jake, listen to me." Alex interrupted. "She's gone right now, but she's not dead."  
The rest of the humans and na'vi alike glared at him.  
"How the fuck would YOU know anything!" Jake snapped. He was hyperventilating, and close to lashing out at someone. Everyone expected no less than that.  
"Jake I _know_ she's still alive." Alex said quickly. "Just think for a minute okay? Why would they take her away, separate from her mother and co. when they could have just done her in right then? If they took her away, and sent Neytiri, Norm and Max to their deaths, then that could only mean that she's still a prisoner right now!" he finished with a slightly maniacal note of exuberance. "_She's still alive._"  
Jake, Neytiri and Norm were silent for a minute while they processed this new information. Alex was quietly pleased with himself for coming up with a new reason why he knew Miri wasn't dead. It certainly was easier this way than explaining the real reason.  
"We need to find her." Jake said finally. He managed to get himself under control again. He turned to a brave nearby. "Get everyone together Mu'kala, we're going into the swamps-"  
"No dice Jake." A voice said from behind.  
Alex and Jake turned to see Noh standing, arms crossed. "We can't help you out to find her."  
Neytiri and Jake alike flashed him a murderous look. "Are you saying you won't help to find a child?" Jake spat. "Fine! I don't need your help to-"  
"You DO need my help." Noh interrupted. "You've got wounded, I've got wounded, we're scared in the dark and cut off from our people. There's not a chance in hell you and your warriors here will be able to get out of here alive alone, much less find Miri."  
"So are you saying I should just leave my daughter in the hands of them!" Neytiri motioned angrily at a Khalistheya corpse.  
"No." Noh narrowed his eyes. "What I'm saying is that I can't sacrifice the safety of all of the people here _for one child._"  
The resulting tension could be cut with a knife. If looks could kill, the ones that Jake and Noh shared with each other would probably have been able to pop open battle tanks.  
Alex was pretty sure he would have to pick up bits of Noh's and Jake's corpse off the ground when Norm suddenly spoke out two words.  
"The Hometree."  
The others turned at him. "What about it?" Mu'kala asked.  
"Those…. The Khalistheya… while they were going to kill us, one of them said that they were already in the process of testing the defences of the Hometree or something like that right now." He whispered. "That… that means…."  
"Oh Eywa, they could already be under attack right now!" Neytiri cried out.

* * *

Noh clambered his way onto the canoe. He almost slipped up when he got in, but he managed to prevent himself from breaking his nose.  
He looked to the others. The na'vi, militia, mercenaries and colonists had managed to clamber out of the shallow water and pile themselves into the canoes that the na'vi had used to get to the mines in the first place. Although the fact that the canoes were thought of as not having enough space for all of the survivors, the na'vi casualties had freed up some new space. Now the wounded, tended by medics, and the rest of the rather motely gang of human and na'vi alike, were resting in the boats.  
"Is that everyone?" Mu'kala shouted out.  
"Everyone still alive." Another brave yelled back.  
"Right… let's go home."  
The na'vi started to paddle up the river. The large paddles that splashed into the water were not that loud, but in the silence of the forest they might as well have been replaced with motors. The humans had managed to rig up the lights they had with them to act as spotlights, which they used to help the paddlers find their way and to keep watch. Dawn would be coming up any time now, so hopefully they wouldn't be necessary for much longer.  
Noh watched the other humans. The militia were checking their equipment, keeping watch on the forest and doing their best to engage in small talk. They didn't sound like idiot rookies though. They were tired, beaten down and he could see the black rims under their eyes. They didn't quite look like grizzled combat veterans, but they didn't have far in terms of notches to climb. They whispered whenever they talked, not wanting to break the silence. Nobody spoke loudly.  
Noh stretched, and then he stopped when he saw it.  
It was a woodsprite. One single, solitary woodsprite. Usually they were in groups of three or four, but this was one was all alone. It drifted high above in the canopy, out of reach of everyone. It was quite possibly the only thing glowing in the entire forest.  
It didn't look very healthy either. It seemed to drift lazily, moving only when it had to. And its glow was far duller than it could have been.  
Noh took a breath. He wasn't sure that the forest was going to recover in the morning this time.

Alex rubbed his head for the seventh time.  
"Are you okay boss?" Dwight asked.  
Alex turned and looked at him, doing his best not to stare.  
It was as if Dwight was encapsulated in a halo. A thin, green, transparent… mist circled the man. It took what Alex figured was an ordered state. It looked as if it was jittery, nervous, but it still holding itself together. It felt like it matched Dwight's current state of mind. Then the mist vanished in then blink of an eye.  
"Uh… yeah I'm okay." Alex nodded.  
"You sure?"  
"I'm fine, thanks for asking."  
It seemed to satisfy Dwight. He went back to getting the grime off his LMG.  
When he was satisfied that Dwight wasn't paying attention, Alex frowned. He figured that the reason why the mist went away was because he was thinking too much about. He started to do his best to not think about the mist. Didn't work. He started to wonder if it was just part of the concussion.  
He started to relax. His mind started to drift into the wellbeing of the people around him. He looked back at the others.  
The halos were back.  
It seemed as if every human had a small swirling of coloured mist around their heads. Some of them were cool, calmed colours; others were shrouded in jittery, nervous colours. It was as if he was seeing the workings of his people's minds. He could see that everyone was nervous, scared, but mostly holding it together.  
Except for one guy. He was one the same boat as Alex, leaning against the hull and holding himself. He had the most nervous, frightened face on him, as if he was completely convinced that something was going to come out of the water and eat his face off. The halo around him, or aura or whatever it was called, was cold, jittering wildly. Like a fire burning its way out. Alex recognised him.  
He shuffled over to the mechanic. "Are you okay?"  
Gage turned at him quickly, but then corrected himself just as fast. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."  
"You sure?"  
"Oh yeah, oh yeah. I'm good."  
Alex knew he was being lied to.  
"Look, it's going to be alright Gage. Okay?"  
"Yeah, I know, I know…"  
"No I mean it." Alex said firmly yet reassuringly. "It's going to be okay."  
"Heh, assuming we make it out of this place alive…" Gage chuckled unhappily.  
"And that's what's going to happen."  
Gage looked at Alex in a different way. "You seem to be pretty confident."  
"No… but we're going to get home, and I'm going to get everyone home through hell and high water if I need to. Do you know why?"  
Gage looked at him for the answer.  
"Because it's my job."  
Gage's aura started to change. It's jitteriness didn't go away, but it seemed to relax considerably.  
"Well…" Gage relaxed. "If you say so."

Alex watched the others as the canoes slid down the river. They had managed to get out of the swamps and were making their way into more familiar territory. Dawn would be coming up any moment now. The silence was punctuated by the odd voices from the people.  
"Hey! Keep your hands out of the water." a na'vi ordered a human from another boat. "You want to lose one of them?"  
Alex decided to doze for a while. He really needed to with the concussion he had.  
"Wake me if you need me." He told Dwight.  
"Will do boss."  
As Alex finally took a nap, Dwight finally got his gun cleaned. It wasn't as if someone told him that he should always have a clean gun as part of training, it was more or so out of professional pride.  
"Hey Dwight." Jade called quietly from the next boat. "You think Hells Gate will be okay?"  
"Better be. The crazies said they were just testing the water right now, so I think they should be okay for now. Don't worry."  
"Yeah… I just hope everyone's okay."

* * *

"Echo 5 keep the tangoes suppressed, I need Charlie to secure the north wall."  
"_Affirmative Control."_  
"Alpha, do you see anything in your sector?"  
_"Negative, I think they've fallen back."_  
Joseph rubbed his face again. He hadn't had any sleep for the entire night. Now with daybreak coming, he wasn't sure if he could have the day off.  
The attacks had started at midnight, after the lights went out. The attempts at clambering the walls were at first repelled by the auto-turrets, but soon enough; actual bodies in uniform were needed in order to repel the attack, especially after the first turret was smashed. Things started to grow tense, culminating in the attackers successfully breaching the wall, with what looked to be a tame hammerhead. Thankfully, the wall just led into the Murder Yard training grounds, so it wasn't really a matter of life or death yet. The militia and the mercenaries just dug in and more or less spent the night defending against the odd wave that tried to stream in. What really scared everyone though was just how ferocious the attackers were. They seemed to be able to keep rushing at the humans no matter the wounds, sometimes with whole limbs blown off. One guy even claimed that one of them kept charging even after it had suffered a head shot. The mercenaries said that they'd never seen anything like it. Most came to the conclusion that whatever the crazies were on must be pretty potent stuff.  
Thankfully, the attacks started to ease off as dawn approached. Aside from the wave that was currently falling back, resorting to just using arrows to fight, the danger had somewhat faded. General Carson ordered most of his own mercenaries back, leaving most of the militia to guard the gap. Joseph secretly thought that Carson wanted to keep his own ass secure.  
He stretched in his chair. He could have really used some coffee right now, but he wasn't allowed to leave his position in Command. The main hub of command and control hadn't really changed since the RDA ran the place about seven years back now. The holo-table had been replaced, the computers were upgraded and Selfridge himself said that the place hadn't changed a bit. As one of the people who manned the various consoles though, Joseph wished they'd get around to replacing the seats in the place. His butt ached something awful.  
_I wonder where is Director Pompous?_ He mused to himself. He was usually in his office, but after being on a private link to General Carson for what seemed like a good hour, he announced that he had been called to the Armour Vault to check on the arsenal. He seemed strangely nervous for some reason though. Joseph noticed that he had taken a bag containing a laptop, some hard drives and a few other momento's with him.  
_Does he think he's about to leave?_ Joseph griped. _The Magellan doesn't come for a week or two._  
He remained at his station monitoring the situation. The attack seemed to drying up slowly. The phone rang.  
_"This is General Carson." _The imperious voice echoed on the speakers. _"Tell the militia to continue holding their positions. I'm taking my men to investigate one of the other sectors."_  
"Sir, I see no evidence of any activity-"  
_"That was an order." _Carson interrupted. _"I expect it to be followed."_  
Joseph sighed, and relayed the orders to the militia. He really hated it whenever Carson ordered someone like that. It wasn't just the order itself; it was the way he did it, as if he thought you were always going to belay yourself. It pissed him off at times.  
His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of boots tramping into the Command Centre. Normally, this would be normal, people wore boots all the time on Pandora, but this was a lot of them in one place.  
He turned around to see a whole mercenary fire team assembled around the room. They were in full battle dress uniform and packing full weaponry. This surprised Joseph, and some of the other desk monkeys like him, because usually such kit wasn't seen in the room. What scared him more however, was the fact that they were wearing their exo-masks. These weren't the clear plate masks that were used last time they were on Pandora, with the main filters slung on a small pack, but the self contained gasmask version. These ones had the filters located right at the mouth, along with the plastic visor, just like the old fashioned gasmasks. They made the wearers look like stormtroopers. Not the funny Star Wars kind, but the scary faceless death squad kind.  
"All RDA personnel, report to Point Charlie for extraction." The squad leader announced. "It's time for us to leave gentleman."  
The RDA desk monkeys got out of their desks and started to strap on their own masks. Then they started to leave the room and the somewhat bewildered remaining colonists, seemingly taking care not to make eye contact with anyone.  
"Wait, what about us?" Joseph asked, somewhat puzzled nervously.  
The mercenaries raised their weapons.  
"What?" Joseph stammered, his eyes rounding into disks of horror, a look shared by his compatriots. "Oh God, NO!-"

The gunfire absolutely tore through the room, shredding both eardrums and their intended targets. Joseph and the rest of the colonists in the line of fire wore torn open by the bullets, causing them to be thrown back a foot or so. The victims were practically riddled in blood and the consoles behind them sparked and in a few cases, burned. Their screams were drowned out.  
As the victims laid dead, the squad leader keyed his radio.  
"Sir, Command Centre has been pacified."  
"Acknowledged Stalker." Carson radioed back. "Make your way to Charlie for extraction to Citadel Base. Eliminate anyone you encounter along the way."  
"And the rest of the colony?"  
"Don't worry. The other squads are working on it." Carson replied clinically. "We're rolling it all back."


	21. Chapter 21: Backstab

**Backstab.**

_Five minutes earlier._

"Any news from the mines?" Halverson said on the phone.  
_"Negative sir." _The communications expert responded_. "This friggen' electrical interference hasn't gone away. I can't get anything on the radio."  
_"Is the McKinney still okay?" Halverson questioned. He was referring to the McKinney Quantum Communication Device. Utilizing two 'entangled' particles, the device could send a message instantly, no matter the distance. Whenever one particle was manipulated, the other would instantly change with it, effectively serving as the only means of FTL communications. The system was still painfully slow however, and at $7,500 a bit, it was only reserved for important comms. Until the _Magellan_ got to Pandora, it was also the only means of contacting Earth.  
_"Yeah it's still fine."_  
"Good. Keep me updated." Halverson terminated the call.  
He reclined in his chair, hands wiping away the fatigue in his face. His office wasn't right next to the command centre like all the other higher ups, but it had the advantages of being a little bit bigger than the others. His desk was an imitation wooden one, which was covered in the paperwork that he had been getting behind on, and a now long dead cigar smouldered in the ash tray. Two of the walls had small bookcases propped up against them, filled with books (and not just the ones you had there for show.) and the odd souvenir of both his time on Pandora and his old life on Earth. A police academy graduation photo had hung on one wall, some na'vi arrows had rested on a shelf, and photos of his family sat on his desk. Two comfortable chairs sat in front of him, although since Militia were required to stand at attention, they were rarely sat on. His computer scanned updates from the situation at the breach, and the air conditioner was starting to crap out again. Most times, Halverson called the room home.  
He exhaled, dark rimmed eyes glancing at the family photos on his desk. It showed a smiling couple, one of them in police uniform, the other holding a baby in her hands; a memory of happier days. Ever since he was fired from the force, not being able to provide so well made his marriage rocky to say the least. He had drifted from various jobs, mercenary contractor, security consultant to finally this job on Pandora. Between the sometimes tense nights with Victoria, between the constant migration and the haphazard hours, he often felt that he was inches away from losing it all.  
_Do I regret it? _He mused.  
He was silent.  
_Nope._ He concluded after a minutes thought. _A man's integrity is one of his most important attributes. You lose that, you start becoming part of the machine. I wouldn't be the same to Vicky and Lauryl._  
He resisted the urge to light up another cigar. He really needed to spend some more time with the two of them.  
He just hoped that they were still okay.  
He was just about to grab his service revolver and some more items and go join his men at the wall breach when someone knocked on his door.  
"Come in." he grunted, shutting down his computer. He had been helping his men push back the crazies at the breach, but he had to return to Ops Centre to review the situation. Then he had to grab some stuff from his office and make some recordings. He was itching to get back to his men.  
Twon militia officers walked in to the office. One of them was in charge of the colony's security and went by the name of Captain Novak. The other was Captain Mendez who ran the Murder Yard simulations. "You wanted to see us sir?" Mendez asked.  
"What?" he frowned. "No, why?"  
"Uhh, someone told me that you wanted to see me?" Novak said puzzled.  
Before the Major could reply, the phone on his desk rang. He swore.

"Oh for fucks sakes, just hang on for a sec…" he said apologetically. He picked up the phone. "Major Halverson here."  
"_Major, I need you to listen to me very carefully."_ The caller said quickly. _"There's not a lot of time so I need you to put me on speakerphone _right now._"  
_"Who the hell is this?" Hellboy frowned. He couldn't place the voice or the accent of the caller. "This is a private line, how the hell did you-"  
_"Just shut the fok up and listen to me man!"_ the caller practically shouted desperately. _"Your officers have just reached your office now right? I need you to put me on speakerphone RIGHT NOW. People's lives are at stake!"_  
Halverson flicked the speakerphone switch.  
_"Right, great, can you hear me"  
_"Yeah…"  
_"Good, listen, in about half a minute, a bunch of RDA soldiers are going to knock on your door and when they do, they are going to blow your brains out, do you understand me? They are __**going to kill you all."  
**_"What!" The people in the room started. These weren't words you'd just throw around willy nilly. This was big.  
"What the hell- are you suggesting that Carson's men are plotting to kill me?"  
"_They ARE going to kill you! They're about to-"  
_The caller might have said something else, but suddenly, the people in the room heard the rumble and thunder of automatic gunfire. From inside the building.  
Everyone froze. No one said a word.  
_"Hello?" _the caller shouted_. "You still there?"_  
"Yeah…."  
_"What happened?"  
_"I heard… shit shutup!" Mendez hissed.

The sound of footsteps started to rumble down the corridor. It sounded like a bunch of soldiers was coming over. The three humans, looked at each other tensely. Mendez flipped the safety off of his rifle. Halverson unholstered his revolver and checked the rounds were loaded, and Novak tensed himself. Mendez and Novak took position at the sides of the door, while Halverson ducked behind the desk, revolver in hand.  
The footsteps stopped at the door. It was made out of frosted glass, so the three could see shadowy figures on the other side.  
One of them knocked. "Major Halverson?" a voice muffled by both a door AND an exo-mask shouted. "Are you in there?"  
No one said a word.  
"I think it's empty…" another voice said.  
Halverson shifted his weight.  
"Wait, I saw something!" the first voice said. "I think he's here, let's-"  
Halverson didn't let the merc finish. He fired.  
One does not, under any circumstances, ignore the effects of an explosive magnum round. You would be okay if you were wearing heavy armor, but even then you'd be forced off your feet. This particular mercenary wasn't wearing heavy armor. This particular mercenary, who was dumb enough to stand right in front of the frosted glass door, was blown back as the round detonated on his chest, blowing through his armor and killing him after an agonizing two seconds. The other three mercs in the corridor immediately took cover to the sides, one of them blind firing his gun through the doorway. Thankfully, none of the bullets hit the Major, and Mendez managed to twist his gun to shoot one of the mercs on the other side of the doorway. Unfortunately, that merc was in the process of pulling the pin on a grenade.  
The small bomb clattered to the floor. Into the office.  
"Grenade!" Mendez screamed.  
It was Novak who came to the rescue. Thinking quickly, He swept the bomb out with one movement from his foot.  
Then it was the mercs turn to scream.  
The resulting explosion shook the walls and caused trinkets and books to fall off their shelfs. Ar'kadi thought he heard one of the mercs scream, but an awful silence pervaded through the office.  
Mendez poked his head out with the most extreme caution. The mercenaries were dead, their bodies torn from both the gunfire and the grenade shrapnel. He looked across the corridor and his heart skipped a beat.  
Slumped against the wall was a militiaman. His brains had been painted across the wall as a splatter, his head looking down at his feet. Mendez glanced at one of the mercenaries and saw a silenced pistol in his holster. He put the two together fast enough. He heard a whimpering from one of the offices. It sounded like the office workers hadn't been touched, but they were probably too scared to look outside.  
_"Hello?"_ the phone asked nervously. _"You guys still with me?"_  
"Yeah…" Halverson exhaled. "We're still alive."  
_"Oh thank god… Listen, your men at the breach still don't know what's going on and the mercenaries are jamming the airwaves, so you'll need to get to the Command Center in order to warn them in time. You've got to move now man."  
_"Who are you exactly?" Halverson snapped. "What the hell is going on?"  
_"Carson is extracting all of his RDA goons from the colony and pulling back to Citadel Base. He's taking most of the choppers, the transport shuttles and he's sabotaging both the communications and the aircraft left behind. You'll need to save or repair them if you want a chance to survive."_ The caller answered_. "As for who I am, well, let's just say that my real employer really wants you AND the natives to survive in equal measure."_  
"But who are you exactly?"  
_"Can't talk any further, I've got to go fly this thing now or else my cover is blown. You're on your own for now. God speed man."  
_The caller hung up.  
They stood for a few seconds before Halverson snapped angrily "What the hell are you waiting for! Let's move!"

* * *

"So what do you think made these guys so crazy?" a militiaman by the name of Fisher asked his compatriot.  
"No idea…" the militiawoman Lockland shrugged. "Did we pump something in the water or something?"  
The two militia were sitting on top of an APC taking a smoke break with some other soldiers while the others watched the breach. It had been about half an hour or so since the last attack. Usually the enemy surged forth like a wave within minutes of the last one, so people were slowly coming to the conclusion that the attack was winding down. Nothing had poked out from the rubble for a long while. Well, there was that six armed monkey that was blown apart by a jittery militia after poking its head out, but that didn't count. Many of the humans had been taking the opportunity to use the lull in the fighting to go to the toilet, talk a little or take a snack. It might have looked unprofessional, but after a night of fighting, they really needed it.  
"Nah, can't be." Another soldier shrugged. "We didn't have these problems last time we were here."  
"Maybe somebody dumped some LSD or something into the river." Another one smirked.  
"Don't think we've got enough for the na'vi. Besides why would we share it with them?" Lockland chuckled.  
"Well, SOMETHING'S fucked them off." Fisher muttered. "I mean, aren't the na'vi supposed to be loving, tree hugging people living with Mother Nature or some shit?"  
"Hey, I once survived two hurricanes, an earthquake and a tsunami back on Earth." Another man shrugged. "And those things would happen pollution or not. If there's anything I've learned from those, is that Mother Nature may look all lovey-duvy, but when you get right down to it, she's a total bitch."  
The militia laughed. "Guess our god's got a sense of humour." Another man smiled. He looked around. "Hey, where are those RDA douchebags anyway?"  
"Hmph… Carson's withdrawn them to check out the rest of the colony apparently."  
"Right…"

* * *

Carson watched as his men dragged the militia bodies out to the corner of the hangar bay. He'd prefer not to have to trip over them while final preparations were under way. He'd take a smoke right now, but his exo-mask was a bit of a barrier to his one vice.  
"Sir." One of his officers came up. "ETA on departure is about fifteen minutes."  
"Hmm, better than I suspected…" Carson muttered. "Are the colonist mechanics giving any trouble?"  
"Not really. I think we made our point after the militia." Manderley glanced to the body pile. "I think they might suspect they'll be pacified after fixing the rest of the aircraft, but don't worry, we've got men watching out for any sabotage on their part."  
"Very good. How are the other teams?"  
"Tango team is currently securing the power station, they'll have the place rigged in about ten minutes-"  
"Not good enough, I want the bomb, or bombs or whatever rigged in five. Tell them to get a move on."  
"Yes sir. Vector team is currently securing Dr. Carnegie and his data in the science area. They're meeting some resistance so far, but our cover hasn't been blown yet."  
"Radio silence measures still enabled?"  
"Yes sir. The Comms hub has already been trashed by Stalker team and we've got men masquerading as the controllers. Stalker went dark soon after reporting that they were about to take Major out. Haven't heard from them. Since we've managed to lock down the buildings it's going to take a while for any survivors to warn anybody about what's happening."  
"Hmm…"  
"And finally, Sentinel team has secured the runway. They're keeping watch for any interruptions."  
"Very good Manderley." Carson muttered as he took a glance at the mechanics. He watched as they nervously made calibrations to the machinery inside the Emperor Gunship, fearful of the gun barrels pointed at them. Carson would have preferred to have just wiped them out along with the rest, but they didn't really have enough engineers to get the job done in time.  
"With respect are you sure about sending the Emperor away?" Manderley queried. "If our cover is blown, we could use the firepower."  
"No. I want ALL loose ends tied up. That includes any survivors from the mines, and any native witnesses. I'm sure your men are capable of handling any trouble here for the time being."

* * *

Halverson quickly hopped over yet another corpse as he ran Command. It looked like the mercenaries didn't have time to kill every colonist in the place so they settled for just wiping out anyone who was dumb enough to stand in their way, be they militia or just some unlucky colonists.  
Not everyone was dead though. Far from it, there was the odd office worker or worker who was brave enough to poke their head out of wherever they were hiding, absolutely horrified of the odd body on the floor.  
A few of them tried to ask the three officers what was going on.  
"What happened?"  
"Those fucking mercenaries killed him!"  
"Where's our own guys?"  
"What do I do?"  
The officers only had time for quick answers as they ran through administration. They finally reached the Command Centre door. Normally it was one of the few doors in the colony that was automatic. Unfortunately, the mercenaries had fried the circuits on their way out. The three humans only found out about that until Novak smacked face first into the thing.  
As Novak got back up to his feet, rubbing his sore face, Mendez first stated the obvious by saying the door was flash fused, then he took a bit of thermite out of his vest.  
"You pack thermite!"  
"Helps with the slash and burn ops that we have."  
After sticking the grenade on with some duct tape, he pulled the pin. The door blazed as bright and hot as the sun as the thermite burned and melted its way through the doors lock. As soon as the fiery sight stopped, Halverson used his boot to force the door apart. The officers moved in.  
"Jesus…"  
The Command Centre was a mess. The computers, holo tables, desks and various other instruments were covered in bullet holes and blood, their screens indicating most of the tech had been trashed by the gunfire. The former colonists who were manning their positions were lying on the ground or slumped against their desks. Their blood marking the place.  
"Why the fuck would they do this?" Mendez hissed as he stepped over another body, checking the kiosks for friend and foe.  
"Maybe we should ask them Mendez…" Halverson muttered as he started to fiddle with the communications console. "Go get somebody who knows how to use this thing!" His eyes drifted to a still-functional security console. He started to flick through various cameras.  
"Shit… These guys have been busy…"

* * *

The rattle of gunshots were faint, but Fisher could definitely hear it.  
"That's funny…" he muttered as he got off the APC and keyed his radio. "Command, we've heard gunshots down at the Armor Vault entrance, I think. Could you verify."  
_"Uh that's a negative Echo. We don't hear anything."_  
Fisher frowned. The voice on the radio was different.  
"Command, you sound a little different."  
_"Uh… so?"_  
"What happened to the usual guy?"  
_"Oh, he's in the john right now. I'm subbing for him."_  
Fisher could hear the slight lack of confidence in his voice. He was about to fire off another question when what sounded like a grenade popping off echoed from the same area as the gunshots. The other militia men started to notice, started to talk amongst themselves as to what was going on.  
There was one squad of mercenaries stationed with them. They had been looking somewhat nonchalant up until now. Now they were piling into both of their patrol vehicles. "We're going to go check out the sounds." Their leader said.  
As they started to drive off, Fisher keyed his radio again. "What was that?"  
_"We're hearing reports of a small accident involving mishandling of ammunition. Nothing serious."_  
Fisher had enough.  
"Command, identify yourself."  
_"What?"_  
"What is your name? Who am I talking to?"  
_"I don't see how-"_  
Before the suspicious voice could continue, A very loud voice blared over not just the frequency, but over every loudspeaker on the PA system in the entire colony.  
"_**All Militia personnel, I repeat all Militia personnel and colonists. This is Major Halverson. The Command Centre personnel have been assassinated by RDA soldiers. I repeat, the RDA are killing colonists, they are attempting to destroy the reactor core, and have already been killing colonists and Militia.-"  
**_As the voice blared across the colony, the mercenaries who had driven off, suddenly started to slow down. That was when one of them fired a rocket at the militia.

"TAKE COVER!" Lockland screamed as she dove off the APC . The missile smashed into the thing, killing her and another militia and injuring a few others. The armored vehicle fireballed where it was, the blast knocking some militia off their feet. The militia in question started to open fire, spewing bullets in the direction of the retreating trucks, who in returned the favour with the mounted machineguns. One of them spun out and crashed, the other got around the corner and out the murder yard.  
As the other soldiers got back on their feet, the PA system finished its announcement.  
_**"-repeat, all militia get your asses over here and take back this fucking colony!"**_


	22. Chapter 22: Coup

So long as he could remember, he could feel its call.  
When someone came of age among the people, they were allowed to craft their own bow from the wood of the Hometree. Like any other na'vi, Ar'kadi did so.  
But after a few weeks he more or less put it on the shelf as it were. Not because there was anything wrong with it, it was an okay bow, but for some reason, he wasn't happy about it.  
It was a good bow, but it was just that: a bow. Just another bow like anyone else's in the tribe.  
After a while, he realised he wasn't satisfied with ordinary. He wanted something more than that. He wanted something new. Something better.  
The others thought he should have been out hunting more, rather than  
After ten failed attempts at making something that worked, finally he got an idea: he crafted his bow with a different shape: central short handle, leather strap covering, and curved limbs. It was much better than the others, its arrows covered greater distances and it didn't lose an ounce of its efficiency. One of them even managed to hit a hexapede sixty metres away.  
The first time he had showed up in Hells Gate, one of the scientists took an interest in it.  
"Is that a compound bow?" the human had asked.  
"A what?"  
"A compound bow. It's like a bow made from bits and pieces glued and strung together, rather than one bit of wood. Yours is the first I've seen. It's quite impressive."  
"Um, thanks." It was possibly the first bit of real praise he had gotten about it. "Hey, do you have bows on Earth?"  
"Not anymore, we kinda chucked them away when we started making guns… but if you want, I can get one of our bows fabricated or made for you to see."  
"You can just make stuff like that?"  
"If we've got the materials at hand, yeah, the machinists can make one up."  
The next time Ar'kadi was sent to the colony on business as it were, the scientist had come back with something that almost made his jaw drop off. It was a fantastic creation, a bow made from plastics, metals, pulleys and other materials he was only slowly starting to understand. When he got an opportunity to test it out in the yard, he barely had to strain himself pulling the cord. And the arrows just seemed to hit the target themselves.

If he was a human, he probably would have made a good engineer. He was always fascinated by machines, by technology. The Sky people had only fuelled that thirst.  
Technology to him was a door to power; something that would open the gate to whole other worlds. It would allow him to discover the bare essence of life, reveal parts of the universe no other na'vi would imaging looking at. He could discover how life itself worked.  
But most of all, it would give him power.  
He started experimenting with some of the human guns, machines that could cut through the air at rapid fire speeds. Why limit oneself to a bow when one could blow the enemy apart with machinegun fire? Why throw rocks when one you had grenades? Or hell, what if Ar'kadi could create bullet proof body armor? A power suit big enough for a na'vi to use?  
If he could build any of those, then he would empower his people like never before. They'd be stronger than the tawtutes could ever hope to be, and his tribe would be the greatest to ever rise from Eywa!  
If only…

* * *

"If only…." Ar'kadi muttered out loud.  
He was rummaging around in his gear. The room that the scientists had provided the na'vi was pretty Spartan: it was more or less just a storeroom that was converted to act as a dorm for any na'vi visitors. It wasn't exactly the Hometree, but it was warm, and mostly dry. It was a shame it didn't have any windows, it felt like a cave because of it.  
Things had become pretty tense when the Khalistheya had started laying siege to the colony. One moment he was dozing in his cot and getting ready to go to sleep, the next minute, he and the other five na'vi that were sent here had been dragged out of their beds at more or less gunpoint. Well, it wasn't really gunpoint, the militia had been surprisingly cordial, but he could tell they were thinking about tossing them all in the brig. Once it became clear that the attack wasn't their fault, the humans had settled for sequestering them in the science block until the attacks had subsided, after which they'd be kicked out. It wasn't exactly nice, but it was better than being put up against a wall.  
He was in the process of checking that he had everything that he needed to head back to the Hometree, when he voices.  
_Huh..._ he figured inside his head. _I hope those Khalistheya haven't gotten closer.  
_He was just about to fasten his bag up when he heard shouting outside of his door. It sounded like there was an argument or something going on in the main lab.  
_One of them must have dropped a beaker or something._ Ar'kadi mused.  
Then the voices started to _really_ get loud. The argument was really starting to heat up.  
"Ah hell, I better go look..." he muttered fastening his quiver and gear onto his straps. He was just about to open the door when he heard the burst of gunfire.

His hand hovered right above the door handle.  
_Okay, okay, okay what do I do, what do I do, what do I-  
_The door smacked right into him, almost pushing him off of his feet. Because of his large size, the door was only opened a bit. He instinctively slammed into the door.  
A revolver pistol had been squeezed through the door. The voices on the other side were yelling indistinctively. The revolver itself was now firing wildly into the room, blasting the walls past Ar'kadi.  
The na'vi quickly opened the door for one split second. Just as the shooter fell into the room slightly, he slammed it right on the man's head.  
He looked down at the RDA mercenary. The human was out cold, head slightly bleeding, and exo mask slightly dislodged.  
Ar'kadi realised that the yelling had stopped. He crept over to the main lab.  
"Oh no..."

The room was a mess. Normally the place would be stacked with equipment, the scientists busying themselves with whatever they did. Now that equipment had been trashed, and some of the scientists were now bleeding on the floor. The attackers must have just left.  
It wasn't just the humans that had been killed. Two of Ar'kadi's friends were lying on the ground. They weren't moving.  
Ar'kadi was shaking out of his daze when he heard a voice nearby. He looked over one of the desks to see a scientist pumping the chest of one of the other scientists.  
"C'mon Jack... c'mon... stay with me." The man whispered to the bleeding man on the floor.  
"What are you doing!"  
"Trying to get his fucking heart started again, that's what!" the scientist snapped. Another human burst out of one of the corridors, carrying these red packs with white crosses. Healing bags from the looks of it. He took one look at Ar'kadi and shouted "Don't just stand there! Do something!"

* * *

"Okay assholes let's see how you fare now!" The driver of the Militia Revenant AMP snarled to himself.  
Revenants weren't just AMP's that could be used for standard 'on the line' odd jobs. They were one of the few AMP models that were still designed to carry modular integrated weapon systems. In this particular case, Nick's Revenant was equipped with a magnetic chaingun system, incendiary grenade launchers, and a 'shoulder' mounted 20mm autocannon. They were blazing at full auto as he charged into the enemy.  
The returning militia were met with fire as soon as they approached the main door to the Armor Vault. It looked as if the mercs had set up a perimeter around the main door utilizing containers, vehicles, anything that could take a beating. Then there were the mounted turret guns that were shooting at the militia as soon as they came in sight. It was a hastily slapped together fortification, but it was going to be an adequate one for the time being.  
As the militia started to move onto the fort as it were, they disembarked their transports and started to return fire. Orders came quickly from the squad leaders to try and get around the fort and breach into the main complex from another door. If they didn't do something fast then they were sitting ducks outside.  
Nick moved over to the right of the main fort, doing his best to avoid enemy fire while covering the squad he tasked himself with protecting. As bullets slammed into his armored carapace, he struggled to keep his cross hairs trained on the enemy forces. The militia he was with moved from cover to cover as he drew the brunt of the enemy fire. As long as no one brought out anti armor weapons, he should be okay.  
That was until the sound of an AMP auto gun started thumping. The salvo of explosive rounds almost threw his suit on back, the three rounds that hit causing shock waves and concussive force to reverberate through the armor. Nick quickly turned to face his opponent: An AMP wielding one of the usual auto cannons. It was still firing its gun at Nick, causing large scale damage. He started roaring as he attempted to return fire.  
He didn't have to. A round from one of the militia's incendiary grenade launchers smacked right onto the AMP's gun, burning through the metal and causing the next round to make the gun explode right in the mech's hand. Nick could see the pilot start to swear and curse inside his glass cockpit. He started to rush the bastard where he was.  
The AMP whipped out a ceramic knife. The merc pilot was smiling at first. It became a look of "Oh Fuck!" as soon as he saw what was attached to Nick's mech arm. He frantically attempted to parry the oncoming blow.  
His whole arm was cut in off in a blaze of sparks. The pilot looked down at his arm, and then he looked back at the spinning ceramic chainsaw that was attached to Nick's arm.  
Just in time to see it get rammed through the cockpit glass.

* * *

"Sir, the militia are attacking the gate in force."  
"Yes, I can hear them Manderley." Carson snapped testily. "Tell our men to hold their ground. Are the runways clear?"  
"Affirmative."  
"Has Vector returned with Carnegie and his notes?"  
"He's currently being sedated as we speak."  
"Good. Start readying the transports for take-off. Let's not spend any more time in this death trap than we have to."

* * *

"Is he going to be okay?" Ar'kadi asked.  
"We've done all we can…"  
The lab had turned into a make-shift hospital for the wounded. The real infirmary was more or less on the over side of the base, but with all of the bullets flying around, colonists came to the labs with their wounded, guessing that there had to be some medical equipment around of some kind. Soon, the place was being filled to the rafters with patients and people doing what they could to help the wounded.  
"Just hang in there." Ar'kadi quietly said to the na'vi on the table. "You'll make it. You've been through worse."  
The patient cracked upon one of his eyes and almost smiled a little. "Wasn't that what you said about the time my leg was nearly eaten off?"  
"Yeah, well, you've always done your best to shrug off crap like this…"  
Ar'kadi, the na'vi on the table, and another man were the only na'vi who were still alive. The other three were now lying in the makeshift morgue that used to be their room. There wasn't a lot of time to mourn though.  
"Hey, na'vi!" a human colonist walked up to Ar'kadi.  
"What?"  
"My boss says he wants to speak to you."  
"I'm busy."  
"He wants to speak to you NOW." The human replied with a bit more force. "Just come over here for a second."  
Ar'kadi then got up and began to carefully make his way through the makeshift beds, the patients and the doctors that filled the place. There wasn't a lot of room for an overgrown cat man to walk around. By the time he got to the console, he had already stepped on three angry humans feet by accident.  
"Hello?" he said when he finally crouched down to the screen. A familiar face emerged upon it.  
"Oh good, it's you." Halverson replied. "Listen, I need your help-"  
"I'm not helping until you go and tell me what the hell is going on!" the na'vi interrupted.  
"Look, I don't know okay! In case you haven't got it yet, all of the green shirted RDA goons have just stabbed us all in the back. None of them have told us why, they're just packing their bags, and shooting anybody that's in the way. I'd tell you if now was the time, but right now, I don't know any more than you do."  
"So why did you call me?"  
"I need your help. Almost all of my men are tied up with trying to retake the armor vault away from those goons, but there's a problem." Halverson briefly glanced to the security cams on his side of the monitor. "It looks like Carson's goons have placed a bomb in the reactor complex."  
Ar'kadi drew a blank.

Halverson sighed. "What I'm saying, is that if the bomb goes off, the resulting chain reaction will wipe out the entire base…"  
He realised that Ar'kadi still had a blank look.  
"For fuck's sake… If that bomb goes off, EVERYONE DIES." Halverson blurted out in exasperation. "Do you understand me? EVERYONE, including you, DIES."  
"Okay, okay!… jeez…" Ar'kadi responded, a little taken aback. "So what do you need me to do?  
"I need you to go to the reactor building and do something… I don't know what exactly, and stop that bomb from going off. Get a radio set from someone; I'll get a technician here to walk you through it."

* * *

"Where the hell are those mechs that I asked for sir?" Lieutenant Daniels shouted into his radio.  
_"We're still loading them with ammo for chrissakes, hang in there!"  
_"Shit! Would somebody frag that emplacement already!"  
"Don's got the missile launcher! We could try and smoke 'em with it!"  
"Then do it already, we can't move up if that thing is plowing us!"  
As Daniels started to reload his weapon, he heard the sounds of a rocket flying out of its launcher and exploding on to the enemy position in an almighty crack. There was a brief moment of silence.  
"Did it work?"  
The emplacement opened up again.  
"No it did not!"  
"Shit!"

* * *

"Okay, just go right here…"  
"Okay…."  
Being guided by a voice in his ear was a strange feeling for Ar'kadi. When he was little, he once laughed at a human that he once saw talking into a strange black box. Now he felt like a complete idiot himself. Henka must have thought he looked like an idiot, following him around like this.  
Getting from the labs to the reactor building was easier said than done. More than once they had to keep their heads down after sniper rounds cracked perilously close. Sometimes they had to sprint behind containers and vehicles, other times they had to crawl on their bellies so the shooter couldn't see them. He guessed it was coming from the Hangar bay buildings, somewhere.  
After about ten minutes or so they finally found themselves leaning against the buildings main entrance. The reinforced vehicle gate seemed to be a bit of an impediment though.  
"So how does this thing open?" he said into the little black box he carried.  
_"Not sure…"_ the technician, Johnson, replied over the radio. _"I'm trying to override the locks, but it looks like the mercs put up a firewall between the main console and my own master codes. I think that-"_  
The technician remembered who he was speaking to.

* * *

"I'm working on it okay?" Johnson sighed into the console.  
_"Can't we just bash the door down with something?"_  
"Possibly… but I don't think that you-"  
The sound of repeated thumping echoed over the radio.  
_"There! WE got it open!"_  
"Yeah yeah… you guys are big and strong… we get it."

* * *

"C'mon are those mechs loaded or not? We need them now godammit!"  
_"They're almost done dammit! Give us-"_  
The voice on the radio paused for a moment.  
_"Holy shit…"_  
"Command, don't leave us hanging!"  
_"Daniels… it appears that Delta squad and some other civilians have found an alternative solution to the mech support…"_  
"What the hell are-"  
Daniels was going to finish when he felt the rumbling under his feet. He'd been on Pandora for long enough to know what that sound and feeling signalled.  
_"You might want to tell your men to make some room."  
_Sure enough, the militia started to move around to let the big rumble come past. Then they began their cries of 'Holy shit!' and 'Hell yeah!'

A gigantic dump truck rumbled out from one of the buildings. Hell Trucks were easily bigger than the average three storey building. This particular one was packed with a whole squad of militia, as well as some colonists packing guns themselves. The gigantic yellow monstrosity, spewing gunfire and harsh language, went at ramming speed into the mercenaries position.  
"**HEEEERRREEEE'S JOHNNY!"** the truck's loudspeaker blared out insanely.  
The mercenaries panicked. They tried to stop the machine with rockets and gunfire, but it was just too big to stop without anything less than an airstrike. They ditched their position and ran back inside the hangar facility.  
At least most of them made it inside. Some of them, including a few AMP's weren't fast enough. They didn't even slow the monster down. Going at full speed (30 mph) the truck smashed into the main door, with enough force to destroy a small building. The soldiers on the beast were nearly shaken off, but the monster burst right through the gate.  
The newly loaded mechs finally arrived, running past the militia footmen like people trying to catch a bus that had already left.  
"Oh man I can't believe we missed that!" one of them yelled as raced forward.  
Daniels shook himself out of the shock. He noted his men were wooping and cheering like crazy.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted. "We haven't won this yet! FORM UP!"

* * *

"They've breached the gate!"  
"Son of a… All personnel!" Carson shouted into his radio. "Get to your aircraft. We are taking off immediately!"  
The Hangar had been packed with aircraft when the operation had been initiated, but most of the aircraft had been sabotaged by now. The mercenaries would have preferred to just blow the unnecessary vehicles to scrap, but it wasn't the right environment to just blow everything up. They decided to settle with scrapping the vital components. Aside from the sabotaged Samson's, Scorpion's and Haast's, the only operational aircraft were ten Samson's, five Scorpion gunships, the three Valkyrie shuttles and the AC-320 Gunship. All of them were taxiing out to the tarmac right then. Mercenaries and RDA cronies were rushing on to their birds and returning fire from the militia pouring in from the breached gate, the giant dump truck resting to a stop after crushing a Samson. Thankfully, RDA had set up a second line of defence, so they still had time to bug out while they could. The real issue now was how many planes would be destroyed before they could extract.  
Carson settled down in the make shift command room his men set up in one of the Valkyrie shuttles. He opened comms.  
"Emperor, you'll leave first. Take Snake and Viper to serve as your escorts and eliminate your assigned target. Rendezvous at Citadel after you are done."  
_"Understood."_  
He felt his shuttle move up. The technicians and officers race on their consoles to coordinate the take-off for RDA. He was fairly satisfied that they would be able to get out in time, barring something like a meteorite smashing in. He was about to close the channel when a voice came out of the computers speakers.  
_"I know you can hear me Carson."_  
The mercenary leader looked back in interest. "Halverson. What a surprise. I appear to have forgotten to say my farewells to you.  
_"Yes well, the men you sent to do that for you weren't exactly polite."_ A rugged voice replied in a somewhat dark fashion. _"What the hell are you trying to do?"_  
"Why I'm leaving." Carson said matter-of-factly. "Is that not obvious enough?"  
_"And what about the stabbing in the back? That bomb you put with the reactor?"_ the voice snapped. _"What the fuck, are you and Selfridge trying to accomplish by running away?"_  
Carson gave a disappointed sigh. "Major, if it makes you feel any better, running away just because some savages attacked us is not what we're doing. Do you honestly think we could have planned this within the time we had after they attacked?"  
_"You mean… You've been planning to do this all along."_  
"Exactly. For your information, we **do** care very much about what happens to this place. Namely that it gets destroyed at some point. And right now, it couldn't come at a better time."  
_"You son of a bitch."  
_"Goodbye Carson. If the bomb doesn't deal with you, I'm sure the savages will make you feel right at home."  
He cut transmission.

* * *

The inside of the building was a veritable maze of pipes, machinery, and walkways, all more or less leading to the big giant core in the middle of the place. It was a mammoth piece of machinery, three storeys high and shaped like a planted turnip. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.  
"So where do we go from here?" Henka asked.  
_"The first place anyone would plant the bomb:"_ Johnson radioed. _"Right at the top of that really big looking machine over there."_  
"Okay, so how do we get there?" Ar'kadi asked as he walked in.  
_"Well you could climb the stairs, but if you're so big, then you could just climb the whole machine..."_  
"Wait, did you hear that?"  
There was a faint beep. It was coming from one of the stairwells.  
"Let me have a look..." Henka muttered as he walked cautiously over to the stairs.  
"What are you guys talking about?"  
"There's some kind of beeping coming from the stairs, Henka's taking a look."  
"What! Oh fuck, GET AWAY FROM IT GET A-"  
As Henka approached the stairwell, a burst of gunfire hammered into him. He fell back, screaming at the wounds in his legs. The na'vi was lucky to have fallen back, out of the shooters line of fire, because whoever it was simply kept firing near his feet, thick bullets breaking up the concrete floor. Ar'kadi managed to drag the wounded man away and rest him against a container.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Does it LOOK like I'm okay?" Henka cursed in reply. "It... I'll be fine... What was that..."  
_"It must have been a sentry turret the mercs left behind."_ Johnson radioed. _"Those things would have been placed to prevent anyone from heading up the stairs and to the bomb."_  
"So... what now?"  
_"Well you can't climb the stairs now. Judging from the one or two cameras I got, the ladders have been busted with thermite, the machinery's too big to climb..."  
_There was a short second of silence.  
_"Oh yeah..."_

* * *

"We're taking off sir."  
"Very good."  
The shuttle started to lift up off the tarmac and before he knew it, they were in the air. The shuttle didn't wait for the others so it started to blast off to Citadel, leaving behind a battered colony. The rest of the merc fleet more or less got away, thanks to the cover the choppers provided with the exception of the last shuttle, which fireballed into the main walls.  
_Acceptable losses_  
Carson pulled up his comm channel with one hand, and grabbed a detonator from his armor with the other one. It was a simple device; a small device with a big red button covered by a plastic cap. Idiot proof.  
"All personnel, detonating in three... two... one..."  
He clicked the button. From the camera placed on one of the other Samsons he could pick out an explosion from the reactor complex. He bit his tongue in anticipation of seeing the reactor cooking off and annihilating the colony.  
He was thoroughly disappointed.  
He tossed the detonator on the floor. "Well... I guess they did have some aces up their sleeve after all."  
"Do we have to blow apart that place ourselves?" an officer asked.  
"No. We had a contingency plan in the event this happens. Let us wait until we are at Citadel." Carson replied. "We'll be back with a surprise for them."

* * *

Halverson allowed himself to have _one_ cigar. There may have been a lot to do, wounded to take care of, colonists to arm and defences to shore up, but Halverson allowed himself to enjoy the little victory he had.  
"Sitrep Novac."  
"The colony's fully secured, we put up a few SAM defences in place in case they come back and we have men plugging up the gaps in the walls."  
"Wounded?"  
"Triage is full. Our doctors are doing the best they can, but we think we've lost, or are going to lose about sixty militia and thirty colonists."  
"Aircraft?"  
"Most of them have been sabotaged sir, but the fabricators are still intact. We estimate that we can have a squadron up in the air by the end of the day."  
"Comms?"  
"The Mckinney's trashed sir. It's a complete right off. We've got no means of contacting Earth, or the Magellan when it arrives in a few days." Novac said. "Local comms are still more or less back online."  
"Good. How are our boys and girls holding up?"  
"They're shaken but not stirred. Most of them are holding up and doing their job."  
"I meant our REAL boys and girls."  
"Oh... The kindergarten and school weren't touched. I've sent men over there to keep them under watch. I've also allowed some parents to head over and talk to their kids."  
"Good... Keep me updated if anything changes with them."  
"Will do."  
"And lastly, could someone tell me where Carnegie is?"  
"He's missing. The science crew say that the mercs kidnapped him or something like that. Don't know why."  
"Hmm."  
A large blue figure stooped inside.  
"Ah… what's your name again?"  
"Ar'kadi."  
"I've been wondering… how come that bomb didn't kill us all?"  
Ar'kadi shrugged. "I chucked it out the window."  
Halverson stared a little. "You chucked it out the window?"  
"Yes. The voice in my ear kept talking about defusing or something like that, but I didn't see what was wrong with just taking it away from the reactor."  
"Right, right… Listen, there's something I need to tell you."  
"I'm listening."  
Halverson stubbed the cigar. "As you know, we are in a really tight spot. That bastard and his men trashed our defences when they left and left behind a lot of my people dead. And right now, we still do not know why the hell he did this. But we do know what he plans to do."  
Ar'kadi did his best to understand. He nodded.  
"A while back, one of my squads managed to find a wounded mercenary in the science bay. It looked like his head had been smashed around with the door."  
Ar'kadi gave a small 'heh'.  
"Anyway, my boys worked over him a little. We couldn't find out why they did it, but before he died, he mentioned that his friends would be returning with a certain surprise. And do you know what his last words were?"  
Ar'kadi braced himself.  
"Daisy Cutter."

The na'vi had little use for the many names of the human war machines. They preferred to use their own. But everyone knew the words Daisy Cutter. It only denoted the most ridiculously overpowered bomb in the humans arsenal.  
"Well…" Ar'kadi said quietly, taking a deep breath. "That's… bad."  
"Very." Halverson said. "The biggest problem is that our own air defences are nowhere near enough to fend something like that off, if they come with an escort, there's no way we can stop them. We'll be fucked."  
"Then what do we do?"  
"Well we can't leave that's one thing. Even if everyone was brave enough to go outside of the defences we have, we've got too much wounded to take care of."  
"So we make our stand here?"  
"We're going to rebuild as much of our birds as possible in the short time we have, and then we'll have to strike first." Halverson answered. "We need to get them before they're even in the air. It's the only real chance we've got."  
"How much time do we have?"  
"They'd still have to actually make the bomb, so I'd say two days. And let's not forget the crazies outside the fort…"  
"If I may Hellboy…"  
"What?"  
"What if I tried to get help?"  
Halverson laughed humourlessly. "Hey, if you could somehow convince Jake to lend us a hand, I'll be your best man at your wedding."  
Ar'kadi laughed a little. He didn't get the joke, but he got the message.  
"What I wonder more though is whether or not our boys and girls out there are still alive…"

* * *

"Dwight!"  
"What…"  
"Dwight!"  
"What!"  
"I think there's something on the bank!"  
The words were meant to be whispered, but everyone else, na'vi and human alike, on the boat heard.  
"Did they find us?"  
"Where is it, where is it?"  
"I think I heard it too!"  
"Oh god, I think I saw something!"  
"OH MY GOD IT'S OVER THERE, IT'S OVER THERE!"

The boats crew were a fraction away from blowing apart the bush on the bank, when a small shiva monkey popped up. It regarded the crew with disinterest, scratched its behind and climbed away in to the canopy.  
The sighs of relief could be heard across the boats.  
"Jesus Christ…" Jade breathed. "I don't know how much more of this I can take…"


	23. Chapter 23: Betrayal

There wasn't a lot to do for the people on the canoes aside from paddle and watch for hostiles. Everyone had been told to keep their traps shut in order to not draw any undue attention, so when someone talked, they did so quietly, and only when necessary. Aside from the odd scuffle in the bush, or the odd sound of something moving or scraping, the forest was silent. There were no bird calls, no thumping of hooves. There weren't even any animals that came to drink from the river. The forest seemed almost deserted.

That was what was so spooky about the place. The sun was up and shining through the forest canopy, but things certainly hadn't gone back to normal.

"Are we there yet?" a human whispered to one of the na'vi paddlers.  
"We're close now…" the na'vi began. "We should be-"  
An arrow thumped into a nearby tree root, destroying the tension in the air. The humans and na'vi sprang into gear, aiming weapons at the trees and shouting orders at each other.  
"Can you see him, can you see him!"  
"I don't see squat!"  
"Stay down, stay down!"  
Voices were heard from the far bank on the upcoming bend in the river.  
"I think they're over there!" one hotshot hunter yelled.  
The source of the voices was just about to get turned into a firing range when a panicked voice shouted from it "Wait! Don't shoot! It's us!"  
Jake swore. "Hold fire! Hold!"  
A few blue bodies, seven of them, inched themselves out of the bush to reveal themselves. They were Omaticaya, a very relieving sight to the people in the boats. What was not so good was the fact that they seemed to have gotten themselves into a fight or two. Jake noticed that they had some cuts and scrapes, one of them had a bandage wrapped around his head, and they had fired many of their arrows off already.  
"Chieftain, is that you?" the leader of the group shouted as the boats neared the bend. "I'm sorry, we thought you those madmen for moment."  
"I'm fine." Jake shouted back. "What are you doing out here?"  
"Watching out for the Khalistheya." Another hunter shouted back. "They went ahead and attacked us while you were gone."  
"They're crazy chieftain!" another hunter yelled out. "They just ignore the arrows we put in them before the die, it's-"  
"I know, okay!" Jake shouted back. "We've fought them back at the mines. They killed almost everyone before we managed to escape. Are you saying that they attacked the Hometree?"  
"See for yourself." The leader motioned down the river bend.

As the boats approached the bend, the occupants saw the wrecked remains of three na'vi boats. Two of them had been beached on the bank, the other looking like a broken matchstick. Their former occupants on the other hand were splayed out on the bank. The na'vi corpses were donned in Khalistheya war gear and paint. True to their word, the hunters had put an abnormal; amount of arrows into the bodies. Seven arrows was the average amount. One body had twelve. They seemed to have made it well onto the beach before they finally died. They had to give them credit, they were persistent.  
"The only reason they didn't kill us, was that we ambushed them first." The leader said as he followed the boats.  
"How did you know they were out to kill?"  
"Because they struck first."

As the boats kept moving on, the leader, whose name was Khail, told of what happened. When the light went out of the forest, the people were once again frightened. They returned to the Hometree and proceeded to light fires and keep their spirits up. A while into the night however, and the Khalistheya struck.  
They came howling like the monsters they had become, throwing burning torches, firing arrows and charging at the Tree without any warning, out of darkness of the forest. Some of the defenders were killed in the first wave, but they were already alert for anything horrible to happen. What followed was a battle that stretched on during the night. The defenders fired from the tree at the invading madmen, or took them on at the great roots. The banshee riders were caught up fighting equally mad invaders from above, but they couldn't go far in the dark, too risky to fly and the banshees themselves were to jittery. Anyone who couldn't fight was sent up the tree to hide. The enemy gave no reason behind it all, they just screamed as they tore apart any tribesman or woman that they could get their hands on.

So far the Khalistheya hadn't attacked during the dawn. The defenders had started to assemble bodies, post watches and attend to the wounded. It also turned out that Se'huk, the na'vi warrior whose son was wounded at the mines (an event that now felt like a lifetime ago) had now become the de facto commander of the Hometree in Jakes absence. While the battle had put everybody's skills to the test, only a dozen or so na'vi had been killed. However, three times as many had been wounded, some seriously. People were fairly certain another battle like that wouldn't go very well.

Jake asked on whether or not they considered going other tribes for help. The leader answered that when they sent a flyer out to try to make contact, it came back with the pilot missing and the banshee itself close to death. It must have been pounced on almost immediately after it had left. Neytiri had remembered what one of the madmen said at the bonfire last night; that they had warriors skirmishing neighbouring tribes. If that was the case, then there would be little chance of getting help from them.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of paddling and walking, the canoes and pack finally came in sight of the Hometree. It now looked somewhat recognizable. Somewhat.

The scrubland that surrounded the place had been burnt to a wasteland-esque plain, with only a few trees and shrubs giving the place cover. The landscape was pocked marked with the odd scorch mark, where someone must had thrown a torch or set fire to some vegetation, and the remnants of the last battles could be found scattered around; bits of arrows, bloodstains, and the odd scaring on the trees marked a fairly nasty fight that took place.

Then there was the Hometree itself. It actually looked reasonably intact (It was a Hometree after all), but the odd burn mark and the out-of-reach arrows betrayed that sentiment.

And then there were the people. A group of hunters and warrior na'vi had seen them and were coming over to the canoes. They were a worn out lot, with rims under the eyes and the wearing the same tired yet wary expression that most of the humans and na'vi in the canoes were wearing. Everyone was in their battle gear, and the evidence of the fights in the night was evident in the scratches, bruises, and the odd bandage that they wore upon their bodies. Their disposition had also changed.

As the canoes beached on the river shore, about two hundred metres away from the Tree, the group of hunters started to walk up to the na'vi who were getting out and helping others out of the canoe. They were led by a serious looking and familiar face.  
"I see that you are still alive Jake." Se'huk said as he walked up.

"You too." Jake grunted as he got off the boat and walked up. He then looked back out to the boats and grimly said "Wish the same could be said about some of the others though…"

The warriors from the mines started to get out and help the humans out of the boats. There was the odd bit of chatter about how everyone was holding up, where they were going, where were so and so, whether or not the children in the Tree were okay and a host of topics in both human and na'vi.  
"How's everyone holding up?"  
"Doing okay, I guess." Se'huk muttered. "I figured it would be best to send for help, so I arranged for two parties of hunters to fly out to see if they could reach the other tribes."  
"You sent our ikran away?" Jake blurted. "What are we supposed to do in an attack then?"  
"Because in case you can't see, we need the help! We can't fend them off by ourselves. We'll need help."  
"You took a risk by doing that."  
"Look, I'm doing the best I can, alright! I-"

Se'huk glanced to the boats, with their passengers being helped out by some of his men, his eyes narrowed.

"Why are there tawtutes here?" he said in a somewhat darker voice.  
"They're survivors from the mines." Jake answered. "We weren't going to leave them to die and we couldn't make it out of there without their help."  
"Is that so?"  
It was now Jake's turn to narrow his eyes.

"What are you getting at Se'huk?"

Se'huk crossed his arms in a doubting manner. "I was just thinking… Well, We were just thinking, that all of this madness… all of this bloodshed…. It only started to heat up after the tawtutes came back."  
Jake glanced around. Some of Se'huk's men were starting to look a little more… unfriendly. Like a group of thugs covering a dealer.

"We were thinking that all of the stuff about being friendly with the tawtutes isn't such a good idea anymore."  
The feeling of unfriendliness started to get around. The na'vi who had come from the mines had stopped moving so much and were listening to the conversation. The humans, the ones both on the boats and off of them were starting to grip their guns a little.  
"So what are you suggesting that we do?" Jake replied in a voice that snarled slightly. "Leave them to die? Try to escape the mines with their help and then dump them in the river?"  
"Maybe we are _Jake._" Se'huk said, dripping a little venom on the human name.

Jake could feel that there were some more hunters around the place. He thought he heard a few arrows being nocked. The tension was starting to build.  
"So this is what it is huh?" he said. "You think you can take my place as chieftain?"  
"Might as well, I've already got the support of these men around me." Se'huk said with a now increasingly menacing AND angry tone. "Working with the tawtutes just gets us into trouble. That's how it always is. They're like palalukans inside the skin of people. So we'll make sure that they're not a problem anymore-."

The sound of a machete being unsheathed, a sound that seemed to be deliberately made loud, slinked into the air. Some of the na'vi and humans around the source stepped aside.  
"Just you fucking try hotshot." Noh said in perfect na'vi, machete in hand.

"Well what do we have here!" Se'huk almost blurted out laughing. "It looks like a short man thinks he's a tough guy!"  
"I wouldn't laugh if I were you Se'huk." Jake said. "I saw this man kill bigger men than you without a gun."  
"If you think, for _one moment_, that we're going to go down easily, that we'll just let ourselves be marched to some pit out in the forest, I will cut your damn queue off and choke you with it." Noh yelled out, clearly and with strength.  
"So you think that you actually have a chance against me?" Se'huk smirked. "Against all of us?"  
Noh locked eyes with him. "I have been fighting since ten last night, against psychopaths who clearly wanted to scalp me alive and who were a hell of a lot tougher than YOU." He then shrugged a little. "I've already made it this far, let's see how far I can go."  
The normally diplomatic Alex finally said something. "Noh, I don't think this is a good idea-" he whispered.  
"ShutupAlex, I'vegotapointtomake." Noh hissed back.

"Does anyone else hear anything?" Shee'kana said suddenly. Nobody paid attention to her.

"Besides," Noh started up again, "You sure as shit better not be still hurting over something that happened months ago."  
"It never would have happened had your kind never been here!" Se'huk shouted at the increasingly belligerent human.

As the voices were raised, Neytiri whispered to Alex "Alex, say something!"  
"Why don't YOU say something?" he hissed back. "I'm trying to-"  
The human's ears pricked up.  
"Is that a chopper?"

* * *

He was just about to scan the skies when sound of rockets being fired screamed into the air.  
A few of the hunters around screamed for the others to get onto the ground before rockets from god knew where slammed into the Tree. The explosions blew wind across the plains and completely shocked the na'vi and humans alike.  
For a moment, they stood there like idiots watching the explosion. Then gunfire from above, a heavy machinegun from the sounds of things, tore into the ground and the humans and na'vi alike. Everyone scrambled and sprinted for cover, the fight before now forgotten in the chaos. People were screaming, diving to whatever cover the trees could provide.  
After sprinting under a tree, along with a few other militia and warriors, Alex managed to look and see the source: a Samson chopper, with both doors opened and side guns manned by faceless men, was firing indiscriminately at the crowd. Na'vi and human alike were getting shot by it.  
It didn't seem to care.

* * *

"Good effect on target." The co-pilot of the chopper said.  
"Roger, beginning strafing run on the crowd, watch for return fire." The pilot said to the door gunners over the radio.  
"Copy, engaging."  
The sound of the door guns might have been deafening to some, but the crew were used to it.  
"Viper, could you hurry up and get in position? A party's no fun without friends."  
"Roger that Snake actual." A voice replied on the radio. "Be there in a sec."  
"This is Peacekeeper Actual!" a voice screamed on the radio. "CEASE FIRE god damn it! Fucking Cease Fire! You're shooting at friendly forces, I repeat, You're shooting at-"  
The pilot flicked the channel off.

* * *

"Why the hell are they shooting at us Boss!" a Dwight screamed over the gunfire. The tree that the group of humans and na'vi were hiding under offered pitifully little cover, but the gunners seemed to be more interested in shooting unfortunate souls who didn't have any cover.  
"I don't fucking know!" Noh screamed back. "They just fucking cut me off!"  
"What do we do then?"  
Noh started gnawing at his lip. He looked around for anything he could do. He saw a miner from one of the boats trying to sprint to cover. The man did a flip as a salvo of bullets raked into him.  
Noh stopped gnawing his lip.  
"Emile, you've still got that rocket?" he said, not turning around to look.  
Emile briefly craned his head to look at the tube he had slung on his back. Normally a disposable rocket launcher would only be carried if the soldier was expecting to run into armour, but of course this was Pandora. "Yeah…"  
"Good, 'cause you're about to use it."  
Noh keyed his radio. "Everybody listen up!" he shouted. "On my mark I need everyone to give us cover. We're gonna send a boot right up that murderous fucker's ass."  
Some of the militia gave affirmative signals on the radio. A few na'vi close by who understood English nodded their heads nervously. Emile unholstered the rocket.  
"Three, two…One…" Noh counted down. "MARK!"

Right away, several militia burst out from under the tree, along with some na'vi with bows and started blasting at the chopper. The target started to pull up a little, with one of its gunners taking a shot to the face, but it didn't see Emile rush over and aim a metal tube at it.  
"MOTHERFUCKERS!" the man screamed at the top of his lungs.  
He pulled the trigger. The rocket flew out of its tube with a boom and hit the Samson right in nose with an almighty smash. The cockpit had been completely totalled and with its pilots and systems blown apart, the chopper flew backward a little and slammed into the ground with a grinding crunch.  
And then it was quiet.

* * *

Jake surveyed his surroundings. The chopper had to have been around for what, a minute but it had already caused more than enough carnage. The wounded were laying amongst the dead, crying for help, the survivors doing the best they could to oblige.  
But that was nothing compared to the destruction wrought upon the Hometree. It looked like someone had taken a head of hair and burned off a patch of it.  
Jake turned back to the na'vi beside himself. They looked somewhat shellshocked.

"What are you doing?" he shouted. "Snap out of it!" he pointed at two of them "You two, get to the tree, find out how many people we've lost. Everyone else, get the wounded to the tree, we're sitting ducks out here... And where is Se'huk?"  
"He's... he's over here."

Jake walked over to where the voice came from. There was a na'vi hunter stabilizing a wounded na'vi lying on the ground. As he came up to them, he could see that the guy on the ground was Se'huk himself. Or what was left of him. His arm had been completely blown off.  
Se'huk was cursing and panicking over the loss of his arm. Then he stopped as soon as he saw Jake standing over him.  
"You still up for taking my place?" Jake talked down to him.  
Se'huk was silent for a moment. Then he snarled "Humans just took my arm-"  
"Tell that to the dead ones lying with you." Jake interrupted. "I'm getting the wounded to the tree. Human or not, everyone is going to survive."  
"Why should-"  
"Why? Because I'm the fucking chief that's why! And you sure as hell aren't qualified to run yourself."  
"At least I know who the enemy is. You can't trust humans!"  
Jake paused for a moment. He briefly glanced to an old blood smear. It wasn't from the recent attack.  
"Can we trust our own kind?"

* * *

"C'mon, you're still in one piece." Dwight grunted as he lifted Alex up.  
"What happened to the chopper?"  
"It's totalled. We checked it, nobody survived."  
As Alex managed to stand on his two Dwight began to walk off.  
"Wait, hold on a sec..."  
"What is it boss?"  
"Why the hell would a chopper act alone?"  
"Maybe they were crazy, I don't know..."  
"No it's not that. Very few people fly alone. And No-One fights alone."  
"So?"  
"So where's the other one?"  
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Neytiri's voice asked from above Alex's head.  
Before Alex could respond, he heard a droning sound.  
Everyone stopped breathing.  
"It's another chopper right?" Neytiri asked.  
"No, it's too low to be a..." Alex was going to say something else, but his eye's started to widen in horror. "Oh shit..."  
"What-"  
Alex started running. "**Get everybody up!**" he screamed "Get to the Hometree!"

* * *

There was confusion at first, people demanding to know what was going on, wondering why the human was screaming his voice out. Then several of the human and na'vi saw what was making the droning sound. It was something coming up on the horizon. Something much bigger than a Samson.  
It was the silhouette of an Emperor Gunship.

"Crew, be advised, I can see Snake's crash site. No survivors. Say again no survivors."  
"Copy. Gunners, warm up the guns and start acquiring targets, open fire as soon as you are within range."

* * *

That's when the panic set in. Jake roared for people to get the wounded up and sprint to the Hometree as fast as they could. Everyone grabbed what they could, be it a wounded man, or kit from the boats, and started moving as fast as they could to the Hometree.  
They had just managed to get one third of the way when the shelling began.

* * *

"Gunners, have you zeroed in yet? Those rounds went wild."  
"Negative, but if you pull us in closer we should be getting better angles."  
"What about the tree? Viper can only cover our ass by some much. We'd be in trouble if we're pounced by some banshees."  
"Nah, don't worry. Snake managed to blow that nest apart with a rocket strike. I think most of them are either dead or wounded."  
"Copy, let's go get them then."  
The gunners started to see the targets on the screens. Since thermals were turned on, the targets on the ground were white shapes on a sea of grey running towards the Hometree.  
"Light'em up."  
The guns started to thunder on the hull.  
"Kaboom."  
"Heh heh, oopsy daisy."  
"Yep, that was right on the money."  
"Boom, that hit the spot."

* * *

Alex practically dove into the cover the great tree roots offered. His ears were ringing from the explosions. He found himself cowering behind one of the great roots, huddled with terrified na'vi as the land around the tree burned. Humans and na'vi alike ran past him, trying to drag their wounded and equipment in with them.  
Alex poked his head around the corner to take a look outside. The few stragglers that couldn't run as fast vanished in clouds of dirt. One time he thought he saw an arm flying through the air.  
When all of those who were still alive had fled to shelter, the Emperor directed its guns upon the tree itself. Heavy shells and autocannon fire rocked the tree nightmarishly. Na'vi from above the tree itself were jumping down, falling at times as the tree groaned from the Armageddon outside.  
Na'vi and human alike figured that this was the end. People were crying. People were praying. Alex could see a mother cradling a child, whispering that everything was going to be alright. People were fidgeting with themselves, trying to think of something, anything they could do.  
That was when Alex realised something. There really was nothing anyone could do. The Emperor had them trapped, almost all of the banshee's were either gone, or dead, they had no means of escape, no means of fighting back and the Hometree was about to collapse at any moment. This really did look like the end.  
And the only words Alex could find coming out of his mouth was: "Well shit."

* * *

"Uh, this tree's a little more sturdy than it looks, it's going to take a little longer than expected."  
"to hell with it, those banshee's could be back any moment." The pilot of the Emperor sighed something disappointed. "Let's just fire the napalm rounds we've got and burn 'em out."  
"Copy, loading-" the co-pilot began before noticing something on his radar. "Crew, we have an unidentified chopper, approaching from Angels 10. Identify yourself."  
"This is Haast flight Echo, coming from Citadel." An Afrikaner voice replied on the radio. "General Carson figured you might need some more backup with the banshees coming. We're here to provide overwatch."  
"Well that's mighty kind of you Echo." The pilot of the Samson replied. "Alter course to 3-2 and keep an eye out for any hostiles."  
The pilot of the Emperor could now see the Haast coming up to them in its 'jet' mode. It didn't seem to alter course.

"Echo flight, say again, alter course to- woah, WHAT THE FU-"  
Before the Samson could finish, the Haast launched a missile into it, causing it to blow apart in a fireball and fall to the ground.  
"Short trip shitheads!" the pilot of the Haast roared over the radio. He started to make a run for the Emperor itself, training his rocket pods and autocannon upon it.  
"Fuck!" the pilot of the Emperor screamed. "Bank, bank, we need to- NOOOO-"  
Just as the Emperor banked itself in an attempt to give its gunners a shot at the Haast, the target in question fired everything it had into the Emperor.  
Autocannon rounds and rockets alike slammed right into the belly of the beast, blasting through its armoured shell and blowing apart its ammo stockpiles. The sheer force of the attack, coupled with the fact that the Emperor had slightly banked, meant that the blast made the Emperor literally flip onto its back, and crash right into the ground within seconds, where it exploded in a volcano of fire and shrapnel. There were no survivors.  
"Have a nice trip assholes!" The pilot snarled. "Give my regards to Quaritch you fokers!"

* * *

At first Neytiri thought the huge crashing sound was that of a tree branch falling. The total silence that pervaded seemed to suggest otherwise.  
As people stopped praying and crying, Neytiri dared to peek behind the corner. She couldn't see anything in the smoke. She could still hear the sound of a flying machine outside, but instead of the whir of a Samson, it was the thumping of a Haast. She didn't remember hearing that before.  
As she started to walk into the settling dust storm, a few others dared to join her: A hunter, and a very familiar human.  
"Why is it I expect to find you taking charge?" Noh muttered under his breath. He then coughed from the dust before putting a cloth over his face.  
Neytiri tripped over something. She cursed for a moment before seeing that it was a hunk of na'vi torso. Next to it was a human arm. She wanted to throw up for a second.  
"Christ sakes..." Noh muttered. "Does **everyone** want all of us dead today?"  
The thumping sound started to grow louder. Neytiri signalled everyone to get down. The wind started to pick up, sweeping dust into their direction. Neytiri could feel that a few other na'vi and humans had joined them.  
And then the dust was blown away to make room for their saviour. The Haast gunship, wheels down for landing and ordnance expended, touched down, the angular cockpit a contrast to the curves around them. The blades were low enough so that a na'vi could get hurt with they were too close, but it was far enough away. Then the machine started to power down, its rotors slowing gradually down.

As the engine turned off and the rotors turning softly to the tin of the engines, the cockpit hatch clacked open. The only pilot of the bird, face covered by an exo-mask, clambered out. He already knew Noh, so he was more or less relaxed.  
"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner." The pilot said apologetically. "The others were already suspicious enough before I could take the opportunity."  
Noh stared at him for a moment. "Wikus?"  
"Yeah, I know." The pilot said as he started to open the passenger compartment door. Inside were some crates of ammo, guns, food and medical gear that were now greatly needed. "Help me unload this stuff."


	24. Chapter 24: Ashes

**Ashes**

"It's okay friend… its going be okay."  
Those were the words Jake said as he pried wood splinters out of his ikran. Luckily enough for the beast, Jake actually meant what he said. There were only a few splinters to pull out, and the wounds already on the beast could heal on their own. The same could not be said for a few of the other surviving ikran. A few had to be put down. Some of them still had hunters who were alive. It wasn't a nice scene.

When he was comfortable with how the beast looked he eventually started to climb back down the tree. He had to pass by the odd scorched patch of tree, where the sun shone openly through leaves were still singeing with embers, or sometimes where a whole branch used to be. As he passed by the na'vi around him on his way down, he saw, and felt their eyes upon him. Few of them said anything, but he could feel what they were saying. Some of them wanted to know on whether everything was going to be alright. Some wanted ask why this was happening. Others were too grief stricken to so anything, their eyes either looking away, or staring vacantly into space.  
And other looks… didn't look very friendly.

As Jake passed by one of these looks, The Voice came back.  
_Did you see the look on that guys face?  
_Jake didn't say a word. Not here, he didn't want to sound like an idiot.  
_If looks could kill… boy, he'd be burying you right now…._  
Jake kept going down.  
_Makes you think though… who can you rely on?  
_The question made him pause briefly. The Voice hadn't posed a question like that one before.  
_I mean, you've got your wife. She'll stand by you to the bitter end. How very romantic. But between the loss of Miri, the attacks, and the dark, she's really being strained like never before. And isn't Mo'at, her dear mother in triage right now? Bleeding out?  
_Jake kept going._  
Then there's Mu'kala, your second in command, you've got his respect. But, he can only do so much to help you out. There's Spellman, and the avatar scientists… but they're not warriors. And they're certainly not real na'vi… just like a certain somebody here….  
_Jake clenched his fist.

_Oh? Did I hit a raw nerve? Oh I'm sorry… Anyways, there are of course, the new generation of hunters. You're like a living hero in their eyes… but they're inexperienced, for most of them, last night was their first baptism of fire. Not all of them survived you know… And this Hometree is the only real bit of home the really have. You're not really thinking trusting everything you've got to them? You're not relying on them are you?_  
Right that moment, Jake passed by a young blood, resting near the path, at the entrance of one of the chambers hollowed out into the tree. He couldn't have been barely out of his boyhood stage of life, but he looked a lot older now than before. He was fiddling with his bow, trying to get it strung up right, but always slipping up. From his face, Jake could tell that the boys mind was elsewhere. He figured that whatever the boy was thinking, it probably wasn't far away from his own train of thought… minus creepy voice of course. Jake started to move on after the boy looked back at him briefly, before trying harder to get the bow in his hands fixed.  
_And lastly, there are the older, more experienced members of your people._ The voice continued. _They were the ones who put you into power, the ones who saw your strength. But now they're having doubts. They're wondering now, was it such a good idea?  
_Jake was silent.  
_You know, I'm not going to get bored and go away if you just ignore me._

Jake started to come into a quiet part of the tree. He took a quick look around to check if anyone was around.  
"Then what the hell is your point?" he whispered. "Why ARE you talking to me?"  
_You'll figure it out. If live you live long enough. But what's more important is what you have to do now._  
"What? What is the point you're trying to make?"  
_My point Jake, is that you need to live up to everyone's expectations. Nobody knows what to do, and everyone is trying to survive. It's up to you to get them out of this alive. So man the hell up and be the leader you're supposed to be._

* * *

As Garnett aptly put it, the situation near the ground was 'better than I feared, worse than I hoped.' The supplies that Wikus had flown in weren't much, but they probably saved the lives of many wounded… or at the very least, prolonged them. The fires were out, the remaining militia and na'vi were keeping watch and the wounded were being tended to.  
And it was in one of the platforms that were built into the Hometree that four humans and five na'vi sat in a circle around a map of the region. It was simple map, printed on laminated paper, but after having his instruments screw up every time he went near the flying mountains, Wikus dragged it everywhere he went.

"So Citadel base is right… here." Wikus pointed out on the map. "'Bout, 120 klicks north-north-east of Hell's Gate. That's where Carson and his cronies would have headed off to."  
"And you have no idea, whatsoever, why they're doing this?" Mu'kala questioned.  
"Nah. When word spread to us mercs on what was going on, I tried to ask why. They told me I was asking the wrong sorts of questions. I tried digging on Carson's and Selfridge's computers when they weren't there. Still nothing as to why."  
Alex's ears pricked up. "Wait a moment." He began. "You actually dug around your superiors stuff? Undetected?"  
Wikus paused. "…Yes."  
"Before the attacks?"  
"True."  
"And you simultaneously alerted Halverson to everything?"  
"Before I left, of course."  
"Huh…" Alex paused. "Sounds like you're pretty good at this."  
"I guess." Wikus shrugged.  
"…For a **supposed** mercenary pilot."  
Wikus started to lock eyes with Alex. "And what are you getting at?" he said with a tinge of indignation. "I helped you out! I got you supplies, I saved your fokken' asses! You wouldn't be alive if I-"  
"Hey, I'm not doubting for one minute that you're helping us out. And I know you're no stooge for Carson."  
Alex's eyes began to narrow. "But I can tell for a fact, that you're much, much more than some pilot with a conscience."

Wikus sat silently. The others on the platform watched intently, waiting to see how this pans out.  
That's when Wikus gave a very small smile. "You're file did mention you could see through whatever bullshit was thrown at you." He slouched back a little. "Yeah, you're right. I'm not just a good pilot."  
"What, are you some kind of spy?" Dwight looked in surprise.  
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."  
"Who do you work for?"  
"That's the big question isn't it? What do you think detective Garnett?"  
"RDA Internal Affairs?"  
"Not even close." Wikus smiled. "I'm an agent for Echelon. Working with the Department of Extra-Terrestrial Affairs."

The words hung in the air for a brief moment. That single word had different connotations, depending on who you were. If you were a member of a terrorist group, criminal cartel, or corporate warfare, that name would inspire disgust and rage. If you were a member of law enforcement trying to catch the big fishes, or a journalist looking for the dirt on corporations, the name inspired hope and awe. And if you just an average Joe, Echelon was just another name on the list of United Nations agencies that seemed to suck up donation and tax money like all the other UN Departments. Except no one really seems to know what they actually do.

And finally if you were living on another planet, the name meant squat.  
"What's Echelon?" was the first words out of Mu'kala.  
"Echelon, Mu'kala, is every humans name for the United Nations Intelligence Echelon Group. The United Nations very own spy group." Jake answered evenly. "That means the man sitting right in front of you is, for all intents and purposes, a spy."  
"And one who's helping you." Wikus finished for him.  
"Why's the UN interested?" Jake questioned.  
"Because Jake, nobodies trusts a corporation that's why." Wikus cocked his eye. "When the RDA announced to everyone that they were building a brand new colony on Pandora, one that would in no way screw around with the natives, do you think we at the UN believed them?" he brushed his arm off. "Getting the corporations to play nice over the past decade or so has been an up and down battle. The only time they ever play nice is when we only have video tape footage of some godawful going on, and even then they try to game us in the courts."  
"So they sent you to try and keep tabs on them here on Pandora."  
"Exactly." He smiled. "And believe me, thanks to what happened back at the colony, I've got more than enough dirt to make sure they never start ANYTHING up again."  
"Assuming we live to tell it." Noh muttered.  
"Yes… and to compound the backstabbers, there's a horde of psychotic na'vi that are trying to scalp us alive." Wikus summarised cheerfully. "Know anything about that Jake?"  
Jake frowned. "Why are you asking me? Didn't they tell you that we were attacked by Khalistheya ourselves?"  
Wikus paused. "So you don't know anything at all as to why they've gone crazy?"  
"Wouldn't a certain mercenary leader know anything about this?"  
Wikus pointed his finger in an 'Ah Hah!' sort of way. "You'd THINK that I'd find something about this recent burst of madness on Carson's stuff right? I didn't find squat. Believe me; we were as surprised to see them trying to storm our walls ourselves."

Jake frowned. "It'd still be stupid to think that the two aren't related."  
"I agree. And I suppose the only way we'd get real answers, is if we ask the bastard ourselves."  
"Good luck with that…" Alex snorted. He looked out. It must have been noon right about now. "So what's the plan now?"  
"Well, I for one could try to open up a link with the colony." Wikus said. "It wouldn't hurt to know if those guys were still there."  
"You sure they're still alive?"  
"Last time I checked the horn, the RDA said the bomb they were to plant had failed. So yeah, I guess they're still there."  
Footsteps started to walk into the room. Mu'kala had reappeared, hefting a small human bag with him. "Didn't you guys say that this would help us?"  
Alex smacked his head. He recognised it as the radio system he gave the tribe months ago, back at the mines. "For fuck's sake, why didn't I remember that?" He took the pack. "Let's call them now."

* * *

Calling the triage area a mess was an understatement. Pretty much any patch of flat ground had been taken up by some wounded na'vi (or in the case of one corner, wounded humans). Aside from the add gasp of pain, or the odd moan, the place was pretty quiet. The healers, and the odd human medic, had only the time and the resources to deal with those who were about to die, but could be saved. Those who were lightly wounded had to make do with a clean bandage and some water. Those who weren't going to make it… well… a bit of painkiller was about as much as they could do.

Mo'at was one of the latter. Shrapnel fire from the Emperors cannons had torn into her torso. The outright pain and shock subsided, and the wound had been bandaged, but then it kind of became clear that she wasn't going to make the day. She refused any more help.  
At least she wasn't going to go alone. Her daughter was there, holding her hand. Jake was also there for a moment, but Mo'at told her that the tribe needed him more. She practically had to order him away.  
The woman holding her hand didn't know what to say. She had lost her sister, when mercs shot her in a school in retaliation. She had seen her father lie in the ashes of the old Hometree. But this was different. She had never been able to talk to them. It was different, seeing the life fade away instead.

"They are wrong." Mo'at whispered.  
"Mother?"  
"A while ago… when I was visiting the plains tribe… we were talking about the sky people." Mo'at began. "They were saying that they couldn't be trusted… that they would eat all in sight… that they would lie to our faces to the end… and …"  
Mo'at coughed herself into a fit. Neytiri did her best to help her relax. When Mo'at's hand came back from her mouth, there was blood all over it.  
"Mother, just relax." Neytiri whispered. "I already know things like-"  
"No." Mo'at said abruptly. "Listen…. It was during that meeting… I saw who they really were… the chiefs and their families… they started gossip about each other… about the other tribes. One of them said…. That the tribe that lived in the tundra's… were encroaching upon the land of the plains tribes… taking some of the harvest and animals for themselves. The chief of the plains… he called the tundra people invaders… said that they were a group of animals who subsisted in… the cold, because they were forsaken by Eywa. He didn't even refer… to them… as true na'vi."  
Neytiri was silent. She had been listening far more intently now.  
"And not one of the others… said a word. Not his Tsahik… not his people, not any of the other people… no one."  
"Did you speak out?"  
"I did…" Mo'at continued. "But that is not… what's important."  
"What do you mean?"  
"It showed me… that we are capable…. Of being the things… we always thought we wouldn't be…" she wheezed. "The things… we always thought only the sky-people were…."  
Mo'at looked into her daughter's eye.  
"Neytiri… in the past days and nights… na'vi alike had shed each other's blood… And just now… humans have done the same… to their own. When you look at… the ground now…" she whispered. "We both have red blood."  
"Mother…" Neytiri began to say. Her voice trailed off. She fought back tears.  
"There is light…. And darkness…. in all of our hearts… in both of our peoples." Mo'at breathed. "We are more alike than we… would like to think."  
Neytiri was silent. Her lip quivered a little before she got it under control.

"Neytiri… my child…" Mo'at began. "You are the strongest… bravest… and greatest daughter a mother… could ever have." She gave a small smile. "And there is so much light in you… and you can see the light in others…" She squeezed Neytiri's hand. "I am so proud… to call you... my own."  
Her daughter looked to the ground for moment. Then she looked back and blinked away the tears. "I'll be fine mother."  
"I know." Mo'at whispered. "But promise me something."  
"Mother?"  
"Promise me…" Mo'at began, trying to find the words. "Promise me that you see people… for who they are… not for what they are…" she paused. "That you see the light… and dark… in the na'vi and… the humans you find." She added. "Can you promise me this?"  
Neytiri was silent. For a minute, she seemed to stare into nothing.  
Then she refocused on Mo'at. "I promise."

* * *

"So we're moving?" Emile asked.  
It was later in the afternoon. The shock of the attacks had faded, and people were getting ready to do whatever had to be done. It still came as a bit of a shock when the word came out.  
Emile and a few other militia were currently guarding some of the human colonists who were still alive. They were holed up at the bottom of a tree, trying to keep the civilians calm and sometimes getting them to help shore up the defences. Aside from the initial shock and horror of the latest betrayal, the colonists were taking this acceptably well.  
"That's the plan." Alex answered. "Hell's Gate is sending us some birds that should be here in about five hours. They're gonna to pick us, and the na'vi up, and we'll be flown back to the colony where we can cook up some counter attack plan."  
Emile's ears pricked up. "Hold on a sec, we're taking the na'vi with us?"  
"That's the plan."  
The answer caused some consternation amongst the humans. The halos that encircled them, their auras, they started to shake and go sickly. The news hadn't fared well.  
"I know it's a big ask, but don't worry, you are still going to get to be on the first choppers here. There'll be enough room for everyone involved." He said clearly and strongly. "We're all going to get out of this alive, okay?"  
The auras started to cool down again. The consternation went down a bit as well.  
One of the engineers spoke up. "Okay, first things first, why the hell would the tribals WANT to come with us? I mean, this here is there home, why are they leaving?"

"Look around us." Alex motioned. "This place got hammered and fried in the last attack. If either the crazies, or the mercs come back, they're not going to last long, and they know it."  
"So they figure they got a better chance with us?"  
"That's the idea." Alex nodded. "They're going to help us with defending our own turf, and they might even give us a hand with taking the fight to those traitors."  
"You sure it's a good idea?"  
"They helped us out in getting out of that deathtrap in the mines; we'll help them out now."  
A hand went up.  
"Yes?"  
"It'll be night when the birds get here right?"  
"That is true."  
"Then could the crazies be back then as well?"  
Alex paused for a moment.  
"We know. We're going to have to be ready for any attack in the night."  
A few sounds of despair whispered out.  
"Don't worry okay. We're there for you, you'll be fine."

* * *

A little while after the speech, Alex went to a certain hollow to check on two important people.  
As he rounded the bend he came into the view of Pvt. Jade, who stood up from the log she was sitting on and faced Alex, who simply nodded at her. He then looked into the hollow and into the faces of a mother and her daughter.

The woman was lying against the root with her child curled up in her arms. She took a look at Alex and went back to stroking her sleeping daughter's hair. The contrast of the mother's exo suit fingerless exo suit gauntlet and her dirty hair of the sleeping child weren't that sharp, although Alex marvelled at how something that could lift a quarter ton crate also could run through a child's hair.

"How is she holding up?" Alex whispered, kneeling down.  
Victoria paused for a moment before answering. Then she whispered. "After the bombardment... she didn't say a word. For a moment, I thought she might have been hit by a bit of shrapnel, but it must have been the shock…" she looked into Alex's eyes. "She shouldn't have to go through this. No child should."  
"What can we do? We should be grateful that she has not been hurt."  
"She hasn't said a word since, Garnett. What do I do?"  
"Just keep her comfortable. Make her know that's she is safe."  
They both paused for a moment.  
"You expect me to lie to her?" she whispered.  
"Well, safe for now…"  
"I can't do that."  
"You'll have to, okay?" he whispered testily. "There's not much else we can do for her. I'd rather not have her play with kids who are twice her size. At least you've got a quiet space here."  
"And how long is this quiet going to last for?" Victoria whispered sharply. "When those monsters come for us?"  
"When they come for us, I and the rest of the militia, even the na'vi, will be there between you two, and them, okay? We WILL be there for you!"  
"Right as if you were always around for the people you care for."

The silence that followed stopped the hearts of the three adults present. Alex's eyes bored holes into the woman.  
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "That was uncalled for."  
The child in her arms; Lauryl, stirred a little. Suddenly, Alex gave a deep sigh. He felt very tired.  
"I better get going…" Alex muttered softly as he stood back up. He turned to Jade. "Keep her safe."  
"Yes Boss."

Before he could leave though, Victoria's voice came to him.  
"Stop blaming yourself."  
Alex stood for a moment, without turning around.  
"It wasn't your fault she was killed. You didn't-"  
Alex spun around. His eyes would make plants wilt.  
"If I don't blame myself, who will take it for me? You!" he snapped.  
He briefly locked eyes with the woman. Until he realised Lauryl was also looking at him. The fire that had been stoked inside himself had cold water poured upon it.  
Lauryl looked away. She buried herself back in her mother's arms. Victoria helped her get comfortable, then went back to looking at Alex.  
"I'm trying to make up for it, okay?" Alex sighed, defeated. "What do you think I've been doing for the past few months?"


	25. Chapter 25: Extraction

"So…" a brave asked, not to anyone in particular, but to the whole group in general. "What do you thinks wrong with the world?"  
The question wafted around the group of archers sitting on the Hometree branch and keeping watch on the plain in front of them. The brave was met with silence for what seemed like half a minute.

"Okay…" he muttered. "I guess that is a stupid-"

"Humans did it." Another archer muttered suddenly. "They would have planned this from the start."

"Can't be." Shee'kana said. "Why would they do something that kills their own people?"

"I heard some of the guys mention that some of their own warriors back at their colony have started killing each other. Maybe they don't care."

"They didn't sound crazy though. That's different."

"Ooh,I know!" The first guy suddenly spoke up. "Maybe, they did cause this, but they never _intended_ this to happen. Maybe their presence here is what's causing all of these problems."

"Then why didn't this stuff happen last time they were here? Like, before the Battle?"

"Something must have changed then. They don't seem to need those masks anymore."

"True… but what else is different? They've been surprisingly quiet."

"There was that shooting a while back."

"And that got resolved. This has all been on our terms."  
There was silence.

"So what's gotten the world like this?" Shee'kana asked.

"Why are you asking-"  
The brave's face went still. His ears pricked up.

"What?"

"It's _them._" 

* * *

It was coming around to dusk when the first arrows started to fly at the tree. As everyone feared they would, the now insane warriors of the Khalistheya suddenly came screaming out from the woodwork like from some B-Grade movie.  
It was strange. If this had been caught on camera, the video would be dismissed as some segment from a b grade movie involving some tropical natives capturing some scantily clad 'botanist'. Of course, nobody was laughing. The defenders started to return fire as soon as they were in range, letting loose with arrows and the firearms that they had.  
At least they were ready. Wikus had got in his bird beforehand and had been flying overhead to keep watch on the surrounding forest. He was already doing the best he could at peppering the enemy with cannon fire, although the canopy was making it hard to aim correctly.  
And then the Khalistheya ikran started to come in.

"Keep these bastards from climbing the tree!" Jake yelled as he climbed the tree. "Anybody whose ikran is still alive and well, come with me!"

As the warriors started to climb the tree, the sounds of battle of shouting, screaming, the thumping of arrows and the roar of gunfire echoed around the tree. Jake could see the chopper switch to jet mode to evade the mad ikran, firing on them as it swerved to avoid getting hit.  
As they shrieked around the tree, one of the braves noticed something about wrong about them.

"Why don't they have riders!" the young man cried out, pointing at them.  
That was when one of the ikran smashed into the Tree and started to attack the tribe's already wounded ikran. It was outnumbered, five-to-one, so it was thankfully fended off.

"We can find out later!" Jake shouted as he got up to the branch where his ikran, his bird, his bond was standing, weary, but alert. "Just get on your ride, and fly!"  
As he approached his ikran, he checked the leaf bandages that he had placed earlier. As he touched it, the beast blinked, as if it winced a little.

"You okay friend?" Jake asked.  
The pain in the beast's eyes vanished. For a second Jake thought it gave him a look that said 'Don't worry about it.'  
Jake grinned. "Let's ride then." he said, getting his footing on the beast.

Around him the other hunters clambered on their ikran, and waited for Jake's signal to start flying. He was just about to give it, when the chopper shrieked right passed, its wake almost shaking the branches. Several Khalistheya ikran shrieked after it.  
Jake clipped his queue into his ikran. A brief sensation of information flooding in filled his senses before fading away. "Let's go!" he roared.

As Jake lunged into the air, the sense of falling was quickly replaced by the force of acceleration, as the banshee picked up. He quickly looked around as his allies streamed towards him to check for where the enemy banshees were. Before he knew it, one of them had lunged down at him.  
Jake thankfully had the presence of mind to swerve away before the beast could take a bite out of him. He could still feel and hear the beast snap at him as it passed though.  
_  
And here I was thinking that only Last Shadows come down from the air._

He swerved back at the beast, lunging towards it before making his mount get steady enough so that he could line up a burst of fire at it. As he did so he started to stare at the beast.  
It was coming back towards him. Jake could see that its face was practically painted in its own blood, streaming from its eyes, queues and other orifices. Its queues twitched crazily, and its eyes… they looked like they were looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  
In short, it looked very much like a certain palalukan.  
Jake fired.

* * *

The sound of gunfire was deafening to Neytiri as she clambered between pieces of cover around the tree. The ground defences had been arranged so that the archers fired from tree, the humans took cover behind barricades, and the warriors held off any madmen who were getting too close.  
The sheer amount of gunfire in one place though was starting to deafen any na'vi too close to the barricades. At least the humans had ear protection.  
As soon as there was a lull in the fight, she shouted out to Alex. It took him a while to notice and hear her.

"What!" he shouted.

"I think they've brought something else with them!"

"What, more reinforcements?"

"No, something else! I think-"

Before she could continue, something echoed from the woods.  
The defenders paused for a moment. The archers higher up still tried to snipe at enemies, but even they had pricked their ears up.  
Whatever it was, it was bad. Anything that made that sort of noise, and came from the forest had to be, it was basically a rule.

"Emile!" Alex shouted.

"What?" a voice answered him. It came from behind a small missile launching emplacement that the humans had set up. It was basically a rocket launcher mounted on a tripod. It was one of the few things that the humans had managed to salvage from the canoes. Emile and another militiaman were couching beside it.

"That thing ready?"

"Yeah."

"Good, because-"

Before he could continue, the something came out of the woods.  
A massive, hulking and just plain BIG Hammerhead thundered toward the tree. It slammed through the madmen that were in its way and it didn't look like it had any intention of stopping if someone said please.

"Get out of the way!" Emile shouted. "I've got this!"

Just as the hammerhead reached the roots of the tree, just when the defenders dove for whatever could pose as cover, a great whoosh erupted from the launcher. Alex managed to catch a brief glimpse of the rocket just before it slammed into the beast's head.  
For all intents and purposes, the hammerheads head vanished. Through what seemed like reflex action, it seemed to keep moving for brief and terrifying second, but then it tripped and collapsed in front of the barricades, kicking up as much dust as a crashing chopper would.

A great cheer arose from the defenders.

"Nice!" the militiaman next to Emile said in a rather flushed way.

"Yeah…" Emile breathed, surveying his handiwork. The beast had partially blocked the way under the tree, but they still had all the other openings to worry about. "Shame the heads gone huh? Would've looked great over my mantelpiece."  
The two humans just managed to crack a smile when the same roar that had preceded the Hammerhead erupted again. They both stopped breathing.  
Then they felt the vibrations through the ground. Footsteps. Of something big.

"Oh shit…" Emile breathed. He scrambled to aim the launcher in the direction of the footsteps. "Load another _LOAD ANOTHER!_" he screamed in panic.

"Hang on!" the other man shouted, fumbling with the launcher tubes, trying to reload the thing. "Hang on-"  
The second Hammerhead thundered out of the forest and into view. Panic rippled through the tree.

"No hang ons!" Emile screamed as he set the sights on the rapidly approaching beast, hands trembling. "You get us killed, I swear to god Jack I will fucking kill you-"

"Wire's connected!" Jack screamed. "Back blast clear!" He dove to the ground too scared to just run away.

Emile fired. There was the same almighty whoosh and the same thunder of the explosion. The head exploded, like last time, and the beasts nervous systems carried it a few metres more before it collapsed, just like last time.  
This time though, the hammerhead seemed to stop just a few feet in front of Emile and Jack. Right in front of them. Completely blocking their view.  
Neither of them said a word.

* * *

Noh quickly pulled himself together. The explosion echoed just a few feet away , caused when some idiot fumbled a grenade, was causing his ears to ring like crazy. He scanned the defences in front of him. The Militia and the na'vi were generally okay with holding their ground. Aside from the monsters charging in, and the roughly ten or so casualties that they had suffered so far, they were holding their own pretty well.

The sudden movement in the corner of his eye caused him to spin around, just in time to see a blood-painted maniac swipe at him with some kind of staff weapon. He managed to avoid getting his head cloven off, but the force of the swing made him drop his gun.  
As he went for his revolver, the maniac lunged forward, grabbing his throat and lifting him off the ground. Noh choked against the man's grip, trying to support himself against the maniac's arm, and only just raising his gun to point at the man's torso.

He fired four rounds into the man's midsection. He could feel the force of the rounds reverberate through the arm.  
Its grip on him didn't slack.  
Noh's eyes started to look at his opponents face. The na'vi had to have been barely into his prime, practically in his twenties or something, but he barely felt the rounds. His face had been painted in what was mostly likely his own blood. It was still seeping, slowly from his eyes and mouth. It had the same demented look as all the other Khalistheya monsters attacking them: twisted lunacy.  
"How-" Noh managed to choke.

The monster who was holding him, seemed to tilt his head. His smile seemed to get bigger.

"The…. Half-blood…. Gives us strength." He said.

In English.

As Noh stared at him, the na'vi's eyes suddenly twitched off to the left. He suddenly threw Noh away from him and into something. It took roughly two seconds to realize the maniac threw him into a _na'vi_. As both himself and the na'vi man that he slammed into tried to get back up, the maniac lunged toward them with his weapon, intending to run them BOTH through with it.  
But thankfully, an arrow hit him straight in the eye, dropping him to the ground.  
Noh and the man behind breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

As Alex slammed a new clip into his gun, he shouted over to the radio man for the time on the choppers.

"Five minutes!" the human on the radio, one of the APC crew members, who was forced to leave his vehicle behind, yelled back.

"Bullshit!" Alex snapped, charging a bullet into his guns chamber. "Nothing takes five minutes!"

"Their words not mine!"

He gave the surrounding area a glance. Aside from the battle on the ground, he could hear the screaming banshee's above him, both Jake's and the enemy's, and Wikus's Haast fight it out in the skies. The maniacs had finally started to trickle down in numbers.  
He was just about to let himself relax when he got a headache.

"Ah, Jesus Christ!" he shouted, mashing his palm against his head. "Not now, not now!" He almost wanted to scream it out. Not out of pain, but frustration. This was the worst time for a journey to… that place.

"What's that sound?" A na'vi shouted out. The same thing was echoed by a militia man in English. The defenders, not seeing any targets, froze.

There was some kind of sound, coming out from the forest. Some kind of ringing, or whistling sound. It was just loud enough to be heard now, over the new silence that had broken. Maybe the maniacs had stopped because they heard it too.  
Everyone was hearing it. They started to scan the forest, in the direction of the sound. They were looking at each other nervously, hoping that it wasn't some kind of new monster that wanted to turn them all into a banquet.  
Then the sound started to get louder. As it did, Alex's headache started to intensify. The people around him started to train their weapons on the direction of the sound, trying not to shake from the tension. The sound was getting louder. There was no mistake, it was coming towards them. What was probably just ten seconds felt like ten minutes to everyone. Then Alex realised something. The sound wasn't ringing, or whistling.

It was a scream.

One great big scream.

And at that point, it hit them.

It couldn't have been described as a physical force. Nothing around them had changed one bit. But all the defenders of the Hometree, the humans and na'vi alike, felt it.  
Almost everyone staggered where they were, or fell to the ground. Some screamed out, themselves briefly. Many cradled their heads. Above them, the ikran, both the ones ridden by Jake's people and the insane ones, screamed, and swerved around in a very dangerous manner. One of them crashed into the tree at one point.  
Alex felt as if the scream screwed right into his head and started to shake the inside of his head. He covered his ears, but that seemed to do nothing.  
It wasn't just a sound, it was more than that.  
And then just like that, the scream vanished, echoes upon the end.  
The defenders slowly pried their hands off their own heads. They started to look around, at each other, and realizing just how silent everything had become. The most notable difference: the madmen weren't around.

"Hello?" A voice came over the radioman's machine. It was Wikus. "Are you guys alright? You've all stopped shooting. The banshees up here went crazy for a minute."  
Alex made his way over to the device, almost pushing the operator over in the process. He grabbed the handset.

"We're fine Wikus…" Alex began. "That scream shook us a little, but we're okay otherwise. How are you holding up?"

"Fine, but- wait…" Wikus paused for a second. "What scream?"

"What, didn't you hear it?" Alex said in an exasperated tone. "Everyone heard it! Everyone felt it for crying out loud! You didn't hear anything?"

"Umm…" Wikus said dubiously. "No… I didn't hear anything…" he paused for a moment. "It was a scream you say?"

"Yes, a big horrible scream! It was everywhere! How could you not hear it! It was as loud as a shuttle for Christ's sakes!"

"Well the fact I was up here might have had something to do with it." Wikus replied testily, the sound of his chopper leaking through the radio. "At least the crazies have stopped… And-"

There was a short silence. Alex's face turned a little red. "And what? Spit it out!"  
The voice that answered was certainly more exuberant than before.

"The cavalry has arrived my friends!"

* * *

As the choppers started to touch down, the Tree erupted in the cheers of its defenders. For once, things had gone in their favour. Of course, Murphy's Law dictated that it couldn't last for very long, so they got cracking on the next job at hand: getting the wounded and non-combatants on board the choppers and getting the hell out before bad guys showed up.  
Unfortunately, cramming stretchers of wounded men, children and civilians, human and na'vi alike, proved to be more frustrating than anticipated. Between trying to fit stretchers of wounded on the choppers, coaxing tribes people who had never been on such a machine before and keeping an eye out for the arrival of more bad guys, the defenders had a lot on their hands.  
There was a more pressing problem: even though the choppers were over capacity, there was not enough room for everyone.  
So when Jake landed again, the leaders of the humans and na'vi had a merry discussion (Involving shouting at each other) over who is going to stay and who will go. After two minutes, it was eventually decided that the last defenders would have to be carried out by both Wikus's chopper, and the ikran themselves. It was an admittedly ludicrous plan, but anyone staying behind would be doomed.  
As the first Samson took off however, an arrow bounced off its fuselage. As it quickly got in the air, the defenders quickly began to suppress the treeline, while everyone started to get the hell out of dodge.  
That was when word came to the other militia men about the new evacuation plan. Needless to say, it didn't go down well.

* * *

"WHAT, ARE YOU CRAZY!" Jade screamed at Noh. "I am not riding on top of one of those things!"  
"Just do it! You'll all be fine, just hang on-"  
"I'm not doing it boss!"  
"You'll be-"  
"I'm not-"  
"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET ON IT!" Noh screamed at her as a banshee and its rider touched down. "Get on, or it'll carry you in its mouth!"  
"But-"  
"NOW!"  
They were probably going to continue to argue, but with the arrows flying closely, they finally figured that it was now not the time to argue anymore. Noh made the decision that now it was a good time to lead by example.

"It's not that fucking hard people!" He shouted as he rushed towards the nearest banshee. "You just walk up to these guys and rider will pull you on!"

The rider of this particular beast had only been told of the plan just seconds ago, and he was still getting it through his head. That's why he wasn't paying attention to the fact that his banshee didn't like this human walking up and trying to climb upon it. And that's why it suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Noh in its mouth.  
Noh was only flailed around for about five seconds before the rider managed to get a grip on the beast. It was quite a sight as the human was swung around for a bit, screaming in fright before finally being let down again. As Noh got back on his feet shakily, the rider extended his hand down to him. Noh grabbed it after taking a deep breath, and was hoisted up behind the rider, on the back of the beast.

"See!" he shouted, trying to hide the nervous tilt in his voice. "Nothing to it!"

As the last chopper took off, Alex keyed into his radio.

"Wikus, me and the last group are ready for pick up. Can you land?"

"Affirmative." The voice on the other end responded. "Get to the nearest clearing. I'll pick you up from there."  
The last group of defenders comprised of Alex, Jake's second-in-command Mu'kala, Dwight, three other militiamen, and two other na'vi warriors, with bows. The lot of them made a break for a crater that was caused by the recent Emperor attack, closer to the Tree. The sounds of the insane started to follow, getting louder, from the sheer number of attackers. The odd whistle made by arrows whistling at them started to sound all the more dangerous.

"It feels like a whole army is on our back!" Dwight shouted as he hoofed it to the spot.

"You tell me." Wikus chimed in over the radio. "From up here, it looks like the entire jungle is trying to kill you!"

"Tell us something we don't know!" Alex screamed back. He looked back up and saw the Haast begin its approach, its heavy rotors kicking up a dust cloud that both shrouded them from arrows, but  
prevented them from returning fire as well. They could now only shoot at silhouettes that were getting closer and closer.  
As the bird finally touched down, Dwight wrestled one of the doors open. He and the rest of the group started to clamber in, the na'vi having to crouch inside the confines of the crew compartment. It looked like things were going well.

Then an arrow slammed into the back of a warrior still trying to clamber in. He cried out and fell back onto the ground.  
"Hold on!" Mu'kala shouted. He got back out and started trying to heave the warrior back in to the chopper. The blood from the arrow looked bad, but the man still looked alive.  
Just as he was getting the guy in, a silhouette screamed its way toward them. A face, caked in blood and dirt burst out of the dust and into sight. Right when it did so, an arrow smacked into his face, causing him to flip onto his back. He twitched a little before he lay still.  
"Nice shot…" Alex muttered to the na'vi warrior that had made the kill in his language.  
"Thanks…"  
As Mu'kala finally got himself and the wounded warrior in, Dwight started smacking the back of Wikus's cockpit. "We're all on! GO!"

* * *

The Haast began its ascent, lifting off from the clearing and moving away from the hot zone. As it did so, Alex could see all the madmen down there, screaming at them and firing the odd arrow at them. Dwight expended the last bit of his magazine at them before Alex told him to cease fire. He then turned to the wounded na'vi and Mu'kala tending to his wound.  
"How bad?"  
"He'll live."  
Alex sighed. For the first time in hours he had finally been allowed to relax. He slumped back in his seat as the Haast cleared the canopy. One of the humans closed the right door, but the left one was left open, for air. As the sun started to set, the survivors gazed out across the jungle, finally earning a minute or so of peace.

"Got news from the others." Wikus yelled back from the cockpit. "They're good. Making good time to Hell's gate. We should- SHIT!"

"What, what!"

"BRACE,BRACE!"

Before someone could say another word, something with quite considerable mass slammed into the side of the Haast, spinning it violently. Almost everyone inside the crew compartment was thrown to the side, against a door that had only been shut minutes earlier. As the survivors tried to hang on to whatever they could grab and try to get themselves untangled out of each other, the chopper started to level again.

"Taking evasives!" Wikus shouted. "We got another psycho on our tail!"  
As Alex held on to a seat, a screaming shape moved in the sky, out the open door. It banked a little upwards, before moving towards them again.

"Oh Christ…" Wikus breathed. "Quick! Close the door!" He shouted. "Do it now! Do it now!"

Dwight finally managed to get on his feet, and with all the strength he had, pushed the door shut. Before he lost sight of it, Alex could see the banshee, bloodstains and all, shriek at them from above.

What happened next was somewhat unexpected. The reason that most aircraft on Pandora were vulnerable to attacks from the flying wildlife, was that they could be easily grabbed. It didn't take much for a mob of banshees to swarm onto a Samson and force it into an obstacle. With the main rotor blades shrouded and plenty of grab points, it was certainly one of the leading causes of crashes for pilots on Pandora.

The Haast however had one major difference from the Samson and Scorpion choppers respectively. In VTOL mode, its rotor/wing acted as its main rotor assembly, spinning quickly to give it its lift. It was not shrouded, unlike the other two choppers.  
That meant the Haast had two thick rotor blades spinning very quickly above the main machine.

So when the crazy banshee hit again, the chopper started to shake violently, and it was forced in direction, but only for a brief moment. Alex noticed that the whole thing started to become very unstable. Not flying in a straight line was an understatement.  
He also noticed that the window on the door that they had just shut had turned red.

* * *

"Fok Yeah!" Wikus shouted from the cockpit. "We won't be worrying about that asshole again…"  
Alex got up to his feet steadily, bracing himself against the movements of the chopper. He opened the door to Wikus's cockpit. First thing he noticed, was that the windscreen wipers had been at work. Wikus was still making them squirt to get the rest of the red stuff off the windows. Also, the seat in front of Wikus (the gunner/co-pilot seat) was empty. It looked like Wikus didn't have time to find a gunner he could trust, when he was leaving Hell's Gate. And then there was the exo-masked pilot sitting in front of Alex, he quickly swerved to glance at him before returning to his tasks at hand.

"You sure we're okay?" Alex shouted. "This things rocking like crazy."

"She'll be right." Wikus shouted back. "Those rotors are more durable than they look-"

Just as he finished, the sound of sparks above them came.

"Ah shit!" the pilot cursed. The Haast began to start swerving more violently. "Switching over to jet mode!"  
As he started flipping switches, the rotor above them started to slow down. The Haast started to drop for a brief second before the rotor locked into place and served as the chopper turned jet's new wing. The Haast's engines directed thrust back, creating an acceleration that Alex felt. The swerving and shaking came to an end.

"Phew…" Wikus breathed, relaxing in his seat. "That was a close one. We nearly lost the whole bloody rotor when that psycho crashed into us."

"So we're good?" Alex asked.

"For now. But I can't risk making this baby's wings spin again. We'll have to land in jet mode."

A look of nervousness came on Alex's face. "You don't sound too happy about that."

"We should be okay. Assuming that we've still got a clear runway, the canards and other bits on this thing still work, and that there's a crash team on standby, there'll be nothing to worry about."

"What if something attacks us en route again?"

"Well then we're in trouble."

* * *

Alex and the others spent the next twenty minutes waiting in that cramped compartment, nursing their bruises and the wounded na'vi's bandages and trying to not think about the various scenarios in which they could all wind up dead. It wasn't a happy time.  
Alex didn't need to see the halo's around the humans beside him to know that they were strained to breaking point. Between their vacant stares, the one guy snapping himself awake every now and the black lines under their eyes, Alex was fully convinced that these people needed a rest. Sending them out into another battle would probably get them all killed.  
Then he took a look at the three na'vi in front of him. The wounded one was still conscious, and was trying to keep his mind on something less miserable than his wound. The second one was fiddling with a broken arrow in his hand. Mu'kala was on the other hand had been looking back at Alex until Alex had caught his eye. Then he dropped his gaze.

"Are you okay Mu'kala?" Ale asked in na'vi.

The man was silent for a while. Then, after taking a deep breath, he said "No. I'm not." He looked back at Alex. "And neither are you."  
Alex sat quietly, hunched over and taking the words in.

_Funny…_ He thought. _I've been worried sick about everyone else, that I hadn't had a chance of looking after myself.  
_  
He started to imagine what he looked like right now. His thoughts weren't far from the truth. He looked like someone had shot him, dumped him in a ditch for a few days, and then dragged him back on his feet. His outfit was stained in blood and mud, his exo-suit was battered and starting to grind, he was wearing bandages under his helmet, he had a now rough five-o-clock shadow, he felt like his entire body was being eaten from the inside and his eyes were completely sore from the lack of sleep.  
And then there was the fact that he could now see a human's emotional state just by looking at a phantom halo around each of them.  
_It's already happened Alex._ He thought to himself. _You've lost your mind._

He started to think up the various reasons as to why this was occurring. Maybe it was the concussion he had suffered last night. Maybe he was hallucinating. Or maybe he had finally snapped under the pressure of having to lead his men through a paradise turned hell, he didn't know. If he wasn't crazy, then at this rate, he was going to turn into a bona fide Garry Stu.  
He wasn't sure if he should relinquish command or not.

* * *

"We're here people!" Wikus's overly happy voice came. "We're on the home stretch."  
Alex got out of his seat and poked over Wikus's head. Out in front of him, he could see the Hells Gate coming into view, a pile of steel in a forest of green.

Control, this is Sierra." Wikus talked on the radio. "We've reached the barn. Is the runway clear?"

"Negative Sierra." A voice on the radio replied. "We've still got wreckage on the runway. Land at the VTOL pads."

"That's a negative Control. My rotor system's fucked, I can't risk switching over to VTOL mode. Can you get the runway clear?"

"Sierra, there is a broken down, flaming Valkyrie shuttle right in the middle of the tarmac, the place is unusable."

"Yeah, well, unless you want us to crash into all the other choppers, we need to use that runway! Are there any viable approaches? This bird can't stay up here forever, we took damage getting out of dodge, over."

There was some talking over the other end of the radio.

"Sierra, is your landing gear and brakes still functional?"

"Affirmative"

"Approach from Delta one-one –five. We'll have a crash team standing by."

Wikus steered the Haast towards the new coordinates. He turned back to Alex, who was still standing over him. "You'd better get seated Alex."

"You don't sound confident."

"I'm not. There's a fair chance that we'll crash right into the wreck." From behind his mask. Wikus looked grim. "So I'd buckle your seat belts if I were you."

Alex turned around and looked at his vacant seat. "But there's no seatbelt."

"Well… bummer then."

Alex got seated again and told everyone to hold onto their seats, including the na'vi. They got the impression that things were about to turn bad.  
"Control, this is Sierra. I'm starting my approach. Get ready."  
The sound of the landing gear being lowered warbled through the chopper. Then what was only a thirty second approach took an ungodly hour in the minds of the people onboard. Alex was gripping his seat so tightly he was losing feeling in his hand.

"Here we go!" Wikus shouted. The Haast touched down on the runway, the brakes screeching against the wheels and the engines shifting into full reverse.  
"C'mon you focker, hold it together…" Wikus muttered behind gritted teeth.  
Then about a couple of seconds into this, a godawful moaning could be heard under the chopper. Dwight looked down in fear. "I don't like the sound of-"  
Then the landing gear gave in.  
The Haast smashed down onto the tarmac, throwing sparks off to the sides, and making a screech that would give any of the wildlife on Pandora a run for their money. The entire crew compartment erupted in panic.

"Oh SHIT!" Wikus shouted, joining in. "Shit, shit… HANG ON!"

Then only moments later, the Haast started to shift its direction ever-so-slightly, while still going in one direction.  
Which caused it to start flipping over.  
The last thing that Alex saw was the entire cabin turning over and over a couple of times, the men being tossed around like in some sort of demented washing machine, before he slammed into something hard.

* * *

_When Alex opened his eyes, he knew right away where he was. Reality it was not._  
_He was lying on the ground, right in the middle of a flat piece of land, and there was nothing in sight, just fog._  
_  
"Woo-hoo..." he muttered unenthusiastically. He would have stood up, but he felt sore all over. Like someone had locked him into a tumble dryer. He was too tired to do anything._  
_He did notice three particular differences about the Darklands, this time though. One was that the surface that he was lying on felt like the tarmac of the runway. Two, was that the whole place was deathly silent, and third, was that the fog had a slightly unsettling red tint. He didn't feel comfortable about lying here._  
_  
He had just finally started to recollect how he got there, when he felt someone else's presence close by. He stopped breathing for moment. He heard a few footsteps._  
_And before he knew it, there was a human woman looking down at him._

_She was a middle aged human, with ginger hair, wearing a lab coat of all things, hands in her pockets and she had a look about her that said, "Seen it all before." She was regarding Alex with a look that made Alex feel like a student slacking off, but being caught by a teacher who approved of such mischief._  
_  
"You look like crap." She said._  
_  
"...Feel like it."_  
_  
The woman gave a little smirk. "You know how you got here right?"_  
_  
"I died in the crash?"_  
_  
"Nah, you're not dead. But you're lucky, that's one thing for sure."_  
_  
The woman started to walk away. As she did so, Alex shot right up where he was._  
_  
"Whoa, whoa... hold on, just stop right there." He said, regaining control of the situation. He got onto his feet unsteadily. "Who the hell are you? You don't look like some hallucination, or whatever. Who are you."_  
_  
"It doesn't matter Alex."_  
_  
The battered and bruised man frowned as he followed her. "Do I know you from somewhere?"_  
_  
"Do you?"_  
_  
Alex paused for a moment, screwing his face into thinking about where he saw her before. "I give up."_  
_  
"Heh... but like I said it doesn't matter. What does matter, is that you need to put an end to this nightmare."_  
_  
Alex cocked his eye. "It would help if I actually knew what the hell was going on." He gritted. "So, just what IS this place? Is it heaven? Hell? Limbo? Throw me a bone here."_  
_  
The woman stopped where she was, and took a look around. Then she looked back at Alex._  
_"Okay then." She said matter-of-factly. "Are you aware of the concept of the Pandoran Worldmind?"_  
_  
Alex racked his head a little. "You mean, the stuff about the Neural Network, Eywa being a virtual entity, and everything here being connected?" He nodded. "Yeah, I've read that stuff." He took a look around. "This isn't it is it?"_  
_  
"Not quite. But you're close." The woman gestured around. "What you see here..." she began. "Is OUR Worldmind." She smiled. "Humanity's Worldmind."_


	26. Chapter 26: Guardian

**Guardian**

_A short silence passed before Alex said "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

_"Exactly what I said Alex." The woman, or the scientist had said. "Right now you are connected into a wireless neural network that connects human beings to each other. This is basically our version of the Pandoran Worldmind."_

_Alex spent a moment trying to digest the words that he had heard. He then spent another moment trying to form a new question. Before he could say it though, the Scientist continued._

_"Look, I know this all very disorientating for a jarhead like you, but you need to listen to me very carefully." She began. "When you and your people set foot here on Pandora, you were all affected by the land in both very subtle ways and very… unsubtle ways. This started to change how the brain functions and unlocks certain, uh… attributes."_

_"Explain." Alex said in a rather blunt fashion. "I don't really follow." His eyes had not left the woman in front of her._

_"Okay… Did you know that human beings only use a portion of their brains potential processing power at any given moment?" the scientist continued. "The Worldmind has started to unlock ALL of that processing power. This is in particular, most evident in you." She pointed at Alex._

_The man briefly looked at himself, patting his head in the process, as if to check if he grew anything like horns._

_"I take it you've experienced blackouts? Hallucinations? Bleeding from nose and ears?"_

_Alex froze. His eyes said all._

_"I'll take that as a yes." The scientist nodded. "That is a result of your brain developing at an exponentially faster rate and larger scale, to the point that it is causing your brain to haemorrhage blood. Thankfully, any damage caused should temporary, because if I understand it correctly, your brain might actually be regenerating brain cells." Her voice had taken a very slight tone of awe. "Just imagine the possibilities in-"_

_"So let me get this straight." Alex interrupted. "All of those blackouts and bleeding… all of this stuff about being in these Darklands-"_

_"The what?"_

_"Darklands… It's just what I call this place… Anyways all of this crazy, fucked up shit that has been happening to me since ever since I set foot on this rock… It's my brain becoming, what, supercharged or something?"_

_The scientist thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yep. That about covers it."_

_"But that's… that's…." Alex stammered for a moment before pointing at the woman in front of her and saying "If that's the case, then why the hell is this just happening now? People have visiting Pandora for decades now, what makes this time any different?"_

_"Good question." The woman nodded. "What is so different about these colonists that have shown up on Pandora? Hmm?" She crossed her arms._

_Alex thought for a moment. The answer didn't take as long as he thought it would._

_"Genetics." It came to him. "We all took shots that allowed us to breathe the Pandoran air without needing a mask." Alex flicked his fingers in realization. "That must have… It had to have affected us as well… Shit…" his eyes flared up. "You think RDA had a hand in this!"_

_"Interesting question, but I wouldn't bet on it." The woman answered thoughtfully. "My guess is that they didn't see it coming."_

_"Right…" Alex muttered. He wasn't convinced. The fact that there were bodies back in the colony who had died from gunshot wounds to the back of the head was a factor._

_"Regardless of how it came into being," The woman continued. "Your brain now allows you to phase into this neural network, or… Darklands as you call them."_

_"So this is what, like the na'vi Worldmind?" Alex said, glancing around the fog._

_"Similar, but there are some major differences." The woman conceded. "Unlike the Pandoran Worldmind, this place isn't physically connected into the land. It runs off of the connections humans make between each other. It's more like a collective consciousness or a network, rather than a hive mind. "_

_"You mean this network is wireless or something?"_

_"Something like that. This network is more based off the past experiences, memories and emotions of humans. As a result, you can't influence, or be influenced by any of the flora or fauna on Pandora, including the na'vi."_

_Alex frowned. "What do you mean, influence?"_

_The scientist rubbed the back of her neck. "Well…"_

_"Something I should know?"_

_"Okay, you noticed anything about your comrades? Anything out of the ordinary?"_

_Alex sighed. "You mean about the fact that I can see weird halo thingy's around people's heads? Yeah, I noticed."_

_"Right, well, that's you seeing a bit of those people's emotional state. Their aura if you will." The scientist nodded. "From this you can tell how they are feeling and affect them how you want. So, if you see a guy down on his luck, you can give him a pep talk or something. That's one example of you manipulating other humans through your new-found ability."_

_"There's something else to it though, isn't there?"_

_"Yeah. I haven't confirmed this, but if you try hard enough, you could be a bit more… overt in how you manipulate someone through the network."_

_"What, are you saying I could have, what, mind control?"_

_"Nothing that powerful. I don't think." The scientist muttered. "But listen, we're going off track. You want to know how all this talk of neural networks and brain development connects to what is happening out there? In reality?"_

_"Yes, YES, please."_

_"Alright then…" The scientist took a breath. "You are aware that whenever something occurs that sends you into this state, it is usually associated with uh… unnatural Pandoran phenomena?"_

_"You mean like crazy wildlife, total darkness and just plain-old-crazy?"_

_"Yes. That Alex, is in my professional opinion, are by-products of both the Pandoran Worldmind and the Darklands interacting with each other."_

_"Interacting?"_

_The woman nodded. "It is difficult for me to explain it, but it is as if interference from both networks are interfering each other, like ships crashing into each other in a storm. This is causing both the unnatural phenomena in the wildlife and na'vi, and the various blackouts and hallucinations that you have been experiencing."_

_"So… I take it that having two different networks in the same place is… bad?"_

_"Indeed, and in normal circumstances, I would advise anyone that affected humans would need to leave Pandora immediately, lest massive neurological and physiological damage begin to occur to both humans and na'vi." The woman then let out a small sigh. "Of course, the current circumstances certainly don't allow for that. And ultimately, I don't think it is even required at all."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Because there is someone stabilizing both networks. Hell, not just stabilizing, outright bringing them together. Far from breaking apart from interaction with each other, they both seem to be bleeding into each other. It's… remarkable."_

_"And what is that something?"_

_"Not something. Someone."_

_The woman walked right up to Alex and looked right into his eyes._

_"There is a person out there who is both the catalyst to what is occurring and at the same time is serving as the stabilizing factor. Although this person was the one who triggered all of this, the said person is now the only thing preventing massive damage from occurring to both networks."_

_Alex became distinctly aware that the woman in front of him was very carefully avoiding gender signifiers._

_"So is this a he or a she we are referring to?"_

_The woman looked as if someone killed a joke she was telling. For all Alex knew, that could well have been what had happened. "A she."_

_"Oh Lord, don't tell me that Eywa is the only thing holding this mess together." Alex groaned while rubbing his face._

_"Nothing that simple." The woman replied, giving a small, sad smile. "Or melodramatic. No…" she took on her serious tone again. "I am talking about someone who can interact successfully with both networks."_

_She paused, giving Alex a signal that he should try and figure the rest out._

_"Are you talking about an avatar?" he answered._

_"No."_

_Alex scratched his head. "Why not? Aren't they na'vi with significant amounts of human DNA in them? If that is the case, then shouldn't they be capable of being around here?"_

_"They can interact with the Darklands, certainly. But due to their test-tube nature, their ability to do so is only partly matured." The woman answered. "No, what I am talking about, is a young na'vi child with some human DNA running inside her."_

_Alex froze. His eyes slowly began to widen as the cold feeling in his gut started to get worse, as he realised that there was only one person on Pandora who this woman could be referring to._

_"Miri…" Alex whispered. "You're talking about Miri aren't you?"_

_The woman nodded, approving of the fact that the man in front of her was starting to finally get things. "That na'vi child, with some human blood running through her veins has the capacity to walk in both neural networks. Right now, she is connected with both the Worldmind and the Darklands, and is acting as a bridge between both networks. A bridge that I was able to cross incidentally."_

_"So are you saying that kid is the girl who started this mess?" Alex said._

_"Do you think she wanted to create this mess?" the woman muttered harshly._

_"No, I… wait a second…" he frowned. "What did you mean about crossing the-"_

_But before Alex could continue, something started to echo from out in the fog. Voices._  
_At first he thought that they were whispers, but when he listened carefully, they didn't sound like the same kind that he heard before when he had first showed up in the Darklands. It was strangely more organized, less like whispers and more like something utterly monstrous and gigantic was having a conversation with something that was also utterly monstrous and gigantic._

_"Alex, listen to me." The woman interrupted. "We really don't have the time to keep debating. Right now, I need to tell you that while Miri is physically connected to the Worldmind, but since she can also connect with the Darklands, she becomes many, many more times powerful, capable of influencing the flora and fauna of this world."_

_Alex tried to say something, but the woman shushed him quickly._

_"She is not doing any of this out of her own free will, so I have reason to believe that she is being controlled by someone else. The only way to stop her from accidentally breaking both of our worlds down, would be to go to her, and try and disconnect her."_

_The voices started to get quieter, clearer than before. They were talking about something close by. Something about getting the pads out._

_"I have no idea in hell where she is, but the more she is connected with both sides, the more likely you will know where she is just by instinct. Okay?" the woman said, grabbing Alex by the arms and nodding in an 'I'm just going to nod and smile because I really don't know if you got any of that' look. "You save her, you end this nightmare. Got that? Good, I'll be with you in spirit."_

_Alex nodded weakly. The woman let go. And before he could ask the woman for her name, a great thunderous "CLEAR!" roared around him_

_And then Alex was struck by lightning._

* * *

Alex woke up in a shock, the light blinding him and his heart suddenly racing inside his chest. Every bit of him wanted to get on his feet and start running, but strong arms held him down.

"Easy there tiger." A voice close by said. "Just lay down and relax."

Alex briefly attempted to wriggle out of the arms grip. But he relaxed after a few seconds when he realised that no harm was going to come to him. The two militia holding him down let go of his arms. He then realised that the chest plate on his suit had been partially taken off, his shirt had been torn open and some shock pads had been attached to his bare chest.

"You still with us?" one of the men asked him.

Alex nodded. The energy buzz that the pads gave him started to wear off, but his mind was starting to clear up now. He took a look around his surroundings, trying to see past the two men that were crouching above him.

To his left, were what remained of the Haast chopper. The aircraft had gone into a full roll when its landing gear had failed, tearing off its rotors, splitting its fuselage open and resulting in the crumpled heap that was resting on its side. A part of the craft had been cut open by blowtorch, and there were several men gathered around it, who were still trying to pull something out of the wreckage.

To Alex's right were the other occupants of the Haast. They were in a similar state to what he was in: battered, and in need of medical attention. A bunch of militia were standing around the na'vi Mu'kala, trying to apply a splint to his arm. A few of the other passengers that he rode with were either sitting on the ground getting some help, or on stretchers and being carried to the main colony.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine…" he finally said. He started to get up, but drew a sharp breath as pain erupted in his abdomen and in his right leg. A hand pushed him back down.

"Officer, I'm sorry, but you really are not fine." The medic said. "Where do you feel pain?"

"…Everywhere." Alex coughed. "Mostly my stomach… and leg."

"Probably some fractures. Don't worry, we can get you back on your feet." One of the medics said as he took the shock pads off of Alex's chest and fastened the chest plate of his exo-suit back on. They then went and lifted Alex on to his feet, and then helped him to onto one of the nearby trucks that had been converted into makeshift ambulances. It was already loaded with a few stretchers and a few of the people he flew with. A few of the humans were just sitting in the truck, trying to rest a little. If any of them did have any broken bones then their exo-suit could lock a particular limb and act as a makeshift splint and cast, like one of the medics did to Alex's. They then set him down at the back, and went back to help the others.

From where he was at, Alex could see the rest of the colony in full view, largely thanks to the fact the sun was setting right behind himself and the truck. He could see even from out here the pock marked walls, and burned out wrecks of vehicles. Towards the hangar bays, he could see activity going on, what he guessed were engineers and mechanics working overtime to replace the hardware that they lost when RDA stabbed them all in the back. And in the other direction, he could see, the smouldering wreck of an RDA Valkyrie shuttle that was destroyed trying to leave the colony. Judging from the state it was in, he wondered if there had been any survivors. He then found himself wondering whether or any survivors would have stayed alive for long afterwards. And everywhere, Alex could smell something burning. The evening sky had turned a lot hazier than usual. He couldn't really see the VTOL pads that the Samson's and such had landed at. They must have been behind where he was facing. He could hear sounds of vehicles and machinery at work coming from that direction though.

Beside him another stretcher was being lifted onto the truck, this one carrying a familiar and somewhat battered pilot sash spy.

"Sorry about the rough landing." Wikus said in a somewhat apologetic fashion. "Landing gear must have taken more damage than I had hoped." He smiled in an 'I'll be right', fashion.

Alex was too tired to say anything. He just nodded back at Wikus, while he was being lifted inside. A shadow came around, signalling the arrival of Mu'kala. He went and sat down in the truck beside Alex, his legs having to hang out the back as he took up almost all the room at the back. His arm had been broken, and a somewhat makeshift splint had been applied to it. It was made out of bandages, and rifle barrels that had been stripped out of their guns. His head hung down, looking like he could fall apart any minute. Alex took realised it wasn't the pain of his broken arm that Mu'kala was quiet.

The na'vi said something in its language. It wasn't to anyone in particular. Alex found his own spirits dropping a bit. A hand tapped Alex from behind, its human owner asking what he had said.

As he was being asked, a na'vi was being dragged out of the wreckage. It was the same hunter who had been wounded earlier while they were escaping from the Hometree. Alex didn't really need much to know he was dead.

"'Not all of us made it.'" Alex answered the guy behind him.

Shortly afterward, the truck started up, heading towards the main colony. As it turned, the sun briefly got into Alex and Mu'kala's eyes before it disappeared behind the treeline. No glow came from the dark.

"It's going to get worse isn't it?" Alex muttered. Mu'kala turned down towards him. Alex was still staring out to the horizon. "We've lost a lot. We almost lost everything. And the worst is still to come. What else do we have to lose?"

Mu'kala looked at the human for a moment. Then in the calmest fashion he could muster, said "We've still got tomorrow. That has to be worth something."


End file.
